Berlin Marathon: Guye Adola wins in 2:02:50, Ethiopia places four men in the top 5
Ethiopian Guye Adola won the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, September 27, 2026, in 2:02:50, according to Marathons.fr, finishing ahead of his compatriot Gemechu Dida Diriba (2:03:19) and Tanzanian Gabriel Gerald Geay (2:03:59). On one of the fastest courses on the planet, East Africa once again asserted its dominance.
A second Berlin crown, five years later
At 35, Adola adds a second victory in the German capital to the one he already secured in 2021, reports Marathons.fr. Having remained in the lead group for a long time, he took control of the race in the final stretch: according to the specialized media outlet RUN247, it was after the 30-kilometer mark that he broke away to secure a victory that was never threatened in the final stages.
Behind him, the Ethiopian dominance was overwhelming: Getaneh Molla took fourth place in 2:04:55 and Selemon Barega fifth in 2:04:58. Four of the top five men are Ethiopian. The only one to break into this sweep was Tanzanian Gabriel Gerald Geay, who finished third in 2:03:59, confirming that beyond the Kenya-Ethiopia rivalry, other nations on the continent are now capable of running under 2:04.
The course record still stands
Adola's time, however, remains some distance from the Berlin course benchmark: the 2:01:09 set by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in 2022 was not approached, notes Marathons.fr. Consequently, no records were broken in the men's race.
The 2026 edition brought together more than 56,000 runners from 162 nations, according to the same source, in an event that has become one of the world's major gatherings where African athletes continue to play the leading role year after year. In the women's race, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa also triumphed in 2:11:04, just over a minute away from the world record.
For Adola, this success revitalizes a career that many thought was behind him: five years after his first Berlin title, he is once again one of the faces of the Ethiopian marathon school, which has provided the majority of winners for major global races for decades. The remainder of the major marathon season will reveal whether runners from the continent will maintain this grip.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
