Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema of Ethiopia win 50th edition of Berlin Marathon races

BERLIN (AP) — Ethiopians Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema won the men’s and women’s races in the 50th edition of the Berlin Marathon on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Mengesha finished strongly and ran a personal best time of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 17 seconds to finish ahead of Kenyans Cybrian Kotut and Stephen Kiprop in the men’s race. Haymanot Alew of Ethiopia was fourth.

Mengesha collapsed after crossing the finish line and wiped away tears as he was overcome by emotion.

The women’s result was clear long before the men’s as Ketema dropped her rivals before the half-way mark and finished in 2:16:42 – the third fastest time recorded in Berlin. Compatriots Mestawot Fikir and Bosena Mulatie followed in 2:18:48 and 2:19:00, respectively.

Conditions were perfect on a sunny crisp autumn day in the German capital.

A record number of 58,212 runners from 161 nations registered to run on the course where more world records (13) were set than any other. Another record was not expected this soon after the top stars raced at the Olympics last month.

It was the first Berlin Marathon without either Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge or Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele since 2014.

Kipchoge still holds the Berlin course record of 2:01:09 from 2022 – then a world record that was only beaten by Kelvin Kiptum with a time of 2:00:35 in the Chicago Marathon in October last year. The 24-year-old Kiptum was killed in a car crash in his native Kenya in February.

Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa set the women’s world record of 2:11:53 in the Berlin Marathon last year.

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Tigist Ketema from Ethiopia celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the women's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Tigist Ketema from Ethiopia attends the medals ceremony after she wins the women's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Tigist Ketema from Ethiopia celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Tigist Ketema from Ethiopia celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Milkesa Mengesha from Ethiopia lays on the ground and reacts after he crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Milkesa Mengesha from Ethiopia celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Milkesa Mengesha from Ethiopia celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Milkesa Mengesha from Ethiopia celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Milkesa Mengesha from Ethiopia celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men's division of the Berlin Marathon in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)