Tesfaye Deriba Ketema and Sharon Chelimo broke the Barcelona Marathon men’s and women’s course records

The men’s and women’s course records for the Barcelona Marathon were broken in this year’s edition of the race, which took place yesterday. The Ethiopian runner Tesfaye Deriba Ketema won the men’s race in 2:04:13 hours, while Sharon Chelimo won the women’s race in 2:19:33 hours.

The 30-year-old Kenyan athlete entered the race with a personal best of 2:22:07, but it was the first time she had run under 2:20 in Barcelona. She improved her personal best by more than 2 minutes and shaved 11 seconds off the course record. Ethiopia’s Yebrgual Melese was second in 2:20:47 hours, while Kenya’s Linet Masai took third in 2:21:01 hours.

In the men’s race, Tesfaye Deriba Ketema ran 48 seconds faster than the previous course record set in 2024. Kenyan Cornelius Kibet Kiplagat took second place in 2:04:54 hours ahead of his compatriot Enock Onchari (2:05:20 hours).

Tesfaye Deriba Ketema is an Ethiopian athlete who specializes in the 3000m steeplechase. He represented Ethiopia at the 2017 World Championships, where he secured a seventh-place finish in the final. In 2019, he also competed for his country at the African Games in Rabat, Morocco, where he placed ninth in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase event.