Injuries in sports and games change the entire trajectory of one?s journey as an athlete. While most injuries take something away from a player, sometimes, the players flip the narrative and come back stronger. Recently, US track and field legend Michael Johnson met a marathon runner who also refused to be put down by her injury.

Tigst Assefa is a 26-year-old marathon runner from Ethiopia. Last month, Assefa shattered the world record for the fastest marathon completion time in Berlin. This was a surprising turn of events, considering the history of Assefa. In fact, she wasn?t even a marathon runner until recently.

Michael Johnson speaks about the amazing transformation of Assefa

Michael Johnson is a national hero of the USA, who brought home eight world championships and four Olympic gold medals. Johnson is known for his consistency, discipline, and commitment to the sport, and is looked upon by many. Michael Johnson currently works as a renowned analyst and often speaks about various track and field topics. Recently, he tweeted about his meeting with Tigst Assefa.?

The tweet carried the caption, ?I got to spend the last couple of days with great Tigst Assefa. Amazing athlete even more amazing story. Started as an 800m runner (1:59.24). Switched to road running after an Achilles injury. Now marathon WR holder.? Doctors were very unsure of the Ethiopian?s return to sports after her severe Achilles tendon injury. However, Assefa completely overturned the narrative and noticed that she could switch to a post that tested endurance over other things.

Eventually, her hard work and willpower allowed her to re-emerge as the queen of a new sport. The Ethiopian marathon runner clocked in a time of 2:11:53, breaking the previous record by over two minutes. While many were surprised by this development, Tigst Assefa said in a post-marathon interview that she wanted to break the world record.?

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Marathon Queen Tigst Assefa proved everyone wrong, including herself

The return of Tigst Assefa proved her doctors wrong as she didn?t just make a comeback, she instantly became a GOAT. While Assefa overcame the words of her doctors, she also surpassed her own expectations. Speaking in a post-marathon interview, Assefa said, ?I wanted to break the marathon world record, but I couldn’t imagine that it would result in a time under 2:12,” The surprising nature of her success got mixed reactions from the marathon community. While one-half of the marathon community welcomed the rise of a new phoenix, the other half credited her win to her shoes.

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The Super Shoes debate has been going on for a long time in the marathon community. Assefa won the race while wearing the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1s shoes, which yielded many more winners. Although the super shoe debate can have all sorts of arguments, Michael Johnson and Assefa?s fans see her for the champion she is. The Ethiopian will now look forward to shining brighter, and hopefully winning the Paris Olympics gold in 2024.

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