Ethiopian athlete Tigst Assefa broke the women's world record for a mixed-sex race with a time of 2:11:53 on September 24, 2023 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon.[3]
In addition to the standard women's marathon world record, World Athletics also recognizes a second world record for women in the "Women Only" category, meaning that the marathon was run on a course without any male athletes in the competition. The current "Women Only" record of 2:16:16 was set by Peres Jepchirchir on April 21, 2024 at the London Marathon in the elite women's race.[4][5]