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Ethiopia’s Foten Tesfay had never run in a marathon prior to Sunday, so you can imagine the surprise of the running community when she not only won the Barcelona marathon, but did so in an eye-popping time.
Tesfay, 28, destroyed the field in Barcelona, winning in an event-record time of 2:10:53. But the time wasn’t just a record for the Barcelona race; it was also the second-fastest women’s marathon time ever, behind only Ruth Chepngetich, who was handed a three-year ban for doping in October.
If you take Chepngetich’s record out of the equation, Tesfay’s time is a full minute faster than the second-best time ever, set by Tigst Assefa in the 2023 Berlin Marathon with a 2:11:53.
Meanwhile, third-placed Sifan Hassan is nearly three full minutes behind at 2:13:44 in the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
Naturally, the running world is highly suspicious of Tesfay’s performance.
Marathon Fans And Runners Accuse Fotyen Tesfay Of Doping
Ultimately, Tesfay will have been tested for doping shortly after the race ended. And ideally, that would put to bed any allegations of doping sent her way.
But as most coaches and athletes will tell you these days, the doping is almost always ahead of the tests. So it was unsurprising to see that Tesfay’s incredible performance is coming under immense scrutiny.
“Came out of nowhere, and all of a sudden runs the second fastest time in history. People who came from nowhere have all the time in the world to NOT get tested, because they are NOT watched by anti doping agencies. Women do not run that fast unless they are doped up,” one fan posted on X.
“Once upon a time…. That’s how all these reports about ‘unbelievable’ distance times should begin. Another fairytale. No one with a decent knowledge of the sport believes this nonsense anymore,” wrote another.
It’s certainly entirely possible that Tesfay is clean. Amid a lack of evidence, that’s all we can assume. But the performance is certainly eye-opening, given the results from the rest of her career and the fact that it was the first marathon she had ever run.