The 2024 iteration of the Dubai Marathon didn’t just see a winner, but a record-breaking performance. Both men’s and women’s races were swept by Ethiopia. Amid the dominance of the African country, the 7 January race was taken by storm by Tigist Ketema, who set a new course record after a phenomenal run.

The Ethiopian distance runner had been working her way up for a long time and finally had a big win in her bag. A social media post broke the news of her latest feat as Tigist Ketema aced the Dubai Marathon in her first marathon attempt.

Yesterday’s pacemaker breaks Dubai Marathon record

RunBlogRun tweeted about the astonishing debut registered at the Dubai Marathon by Tigist Ketema on its official X account. The tweet carried the caption, “Former WA Junior bronze medalist at 800m, ran 2:16:07 CR in her debut, fastest debut ever, @dubai_marathon, @adidasrunning.” 

The 25-year-old Tigist Ketema was the pacemaker of the 2023 Athlete of the Year Faith Kipyegon at the 2023 Paris Diamond League. While that run saw Kipyegon beat the 5000m world record, today, Ketema also has a record to her name. Tigist Ketema’s athlete profile carried just two significant medals before this.

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The first is her 2016 bronze medal at the U-20 World Championship in the 800m dash. The second one is her 2017 gold medal at the African U-20 Championship. This meant she didn’t have a big win in her athletic career for more than six years. But now, she welcomed 2024 in a trailblazing fashion by winning the Dubai Marathon. With this massive victory, the 25-year-old has also clinched another great achievement: living up to her Ethiopian legacy.

The dominance of Ethiopia in marathons

Ethiopian runners have always been the kings and queens of marathon races. While they face stiff competition from Kenyan runners, they make sure to run fast and give equal competition back. Especially when it comes to the Dubai Marathon, Ethiopian runners have turned it into their stronghold.

The fastest finishers of the Dubai Marathon in both men’s as well as women’s divisions belong to Ethiopia. While Tigist Ketema is now the fastest women’s finisher of the marathon, the men’s record is held by Addisu Gobena. Unsurprisingly, the second and third positions in both categories are also held by Ethiopian runners.

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The finishing time registered by Ketema shaved 2.02 seconds off the previous Dubai Marathon record, which stood at 2:18:09. The 25-year-old will now look forward to maintaining this momentum throughout the year and adding more championship wins to her career.

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