Assefa’s Achilles in Berlin – what every marathon runner can learn

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2.2 kilometres from history

On Sunday 27 September, Tigst Assefa passed 40K at the Berlin Marathon in 2:03:00, about ten seconds inside world-record pace. Two kilometres later she crossed the line limping, in 2:11:04. She won, set a course record and ran the third-fastest women’s marathon ever. Yet she missed Ruth Chepngetich’s 2:09:56 by 68 seconds.

The last 2.2 km took her 8:04. Right after the finish she sat down, took off her shoes and was helped away by Haile Gebrselassie. The next day her manager, Gianni Demadonna, confirmed a complete rupture of her right Achilles tendon. She had surgery on Monday in Murnau, near Munich.

According to Demadonna, she first felt pain around 31K, had no Achilles trouble before the race and faces two months without walking. Only after that come walking, cycling and slowly, running again. A return to racing is not expected before next spring.

The finish was celebrated online as the ultimate lesson in toughness. As coaches, we see a different lesson.

The Achilles: strong, but not unlimited

In an earlier blog we wrote about preventing Achilles tendinopathy while training for your marathon. The Achilles is the largest and strongest tendon in the body, yet about half of former elite distance runners developed Achilles tendinopathy during their career [1]. Assefa’s case shows the far end of that spectrum: not a slowly building tendinopathy, but a full rupture in the middle of a race.

Why now? Nobody outside her team knows and we won’t pretend otherwise. But the context is worth looking at. Her 2026 season included a win in London in April (2:15:41, a women-only world record) and Berlin five months later. The year before, she won London and took silver at the World Championships in Tokyo. That is four championship-level marathons in 17 months, plus Olympic silver in Paris the year before.

A tendon adapts slower than muscle and heart [4]. It can feel fine in training while its capacity is already being used up. That is exactly why “no complaints beforehand” is no guarantee of safety.

The hidden cost of elite distance running

Marathon running at the top is not only about speed. It is about how much repeated load a body can absorb, year after year. The main health risks we see in long-distance runners, elite and recreational alike:

  • Tendon overload. Achilles, patellar and hamstring tendons take high loads with every stride; the Achilles alone up to about 12 times body weight [2]. Capacity builds slowly and breaks down quietly [4, 5].
  • Bone stress. Stress reactions and fractures in shin, foot and hip, often linked to high mileage and too little recovery.
  • Low energy availability. Eating too little for the training load affects hormones, bone health, immunity and performance (known as REDs) [6].
  • Illness after heavy blocks. Hard training and racing can temporarily disturb immune function [7]. Training through a chest infection is never a smart trade.
  • Mental fatigue. Constant pressure to perform, travel and media attention add load that doesn’t show in any training log [8].

The common thread: the body gives signals long before it breaks. The skill is in noticing them and acting on them.

Super shoes: faster, but not free

Since 2017, carbon-plated “super shoes” have rewritten the record books. Assefa’s own 2023 world record in Berlin was one of the clearest examples. Thick, springy foams and a stiff plate return more energy and save about 4% of energy at the same pace [3]. That is a real advantage, for elites and for you.

But faster pace also means faster forces. A runner who holds a higher pace for longer asks more from the calf and Achilles, especially late in a race when fatigue changes technique. The high, soft stack can also make the foot and ankle less stable. The science on whether super shoes raise injury risk is still thin and mixed, though case reports of foot bone stress injuries in carbon-plate users call for caution [9, 10]. What we do know from practice:

  • Build up gradually. Don’t do your first long run in a new carbon shoe three weeks before race day.
  • Save them for key sessions and races. Most easy kilometres belong in a regular trainer.
  • Train the engine that drives the shoe. Calf strength, foot strength and ankle stiffness still decide what your tendons can handle.

The shoe can make you faster. It cannot make your tendon stronger.

The record machine

Modern marathon racing is built around records. Races fly in pacers, set up flat, fast courses and pay bonuses for world records. Shoe brands launch new models on the back of fast times. Managers and agents plan seasons around appearance fees and prize money. For an elite athlete, a marathon is also her income.

None of that is wrong in itself. Sponsors and agents also bring expertise, medical access and support. In Assefa’s case, Adidas helped arrange her surgery within a day. But the system does create pressure. When a world record, a bonus and years of preparation are 2 km away, stopping becomes almost unthinkable.

That is why an Instagram post by the coaching account trainsmartrunstrong struck a chord with us. The author fully respected Assefa’s performance, but warned against sharing an injured finish as the model of toughness. Runners may hear that stopping equals giving up. Sometimes, the post said, stopping is the brave decision.

We agree. Admiration for Assefa and concern about the message can exist side by side. We don’t judge a split-second decision made in pain, at the finish of a world-record attempt. We do question a culture that celebrates it as the standard.

Who protects the athlete?

In a race, the athlete decides alone. Everything before the race is teamwork. The medical team monitors tendons, bone health, blood values and illness. The coach sets the load, reads the signals and decides when plan A has to go. Together they are the counterweight to the pull of records, contracts and deadlines.

Earlier this year, Adilson da Silva spoke about exactly this in Sport & Gezondheidszorg magazine (issue 1, April 2026). His core message: the human factor remains crucial. Data from Garmin, TrainingPeaks or Strava is valuable, but a coach has to act as the translator between data and athlete.

Three points from that interview fit Berlin painfully well:

  • Data fixation. Among performance runners, da Silva sees a strong focus on data and a tendency to over-optimise. Chasing a predicted time can push runners past their limits.
  • Losing the internal compass. Runners who rely only on their watch can forget how to feel their own body. That feeling is often the first warning sign.
  • Even the elite carries medical risk. Recreational runners are often quicker to call the physio or GP when something is wrong. Some elite athletes still have a blind spot there, because the pressure to keep going is so high.

As da Silva put it in the interview: if we use technology in a hybrid model, together with human judgement, we can make elite sport healthier too.

What this means for your autumn marathon

You are probably not chasing a world record. But the same forces play in your race: a goal time, a watch that predicts your finish, friends following your splits online. Take these lessons with you:

  • Pain that changes your stride is a stop sign. Fatigue is normal in the last 10K. Sharp pain, limping or a sudden change in technique is not.
  • Respect the calendar. Two marathons a year is plenty for most runners. Give tendons time to recover and rebuild between blocks [4, 5].
  • Keep strength training. Calf raises, heel drops and foot strength are your cheapest insurance, also in the taper.
  • Treat your super shoes as a tool, not a shortcut. Build up to them and don’t let them hide gaps in strength.
  • Have a plan B. Heat, illness or a niggle can change race day. Deciding in advance when you slow down or stop makes the decision easier in the moment.
  • Listen to your body first, your watch second.

The finish line will still be there next season. Your Achilles might not be.

What’s the next step?

At Silva Running School we build personal training plans with room for strength, recovery and a realistic build-up. We monitor load and recovery and we help you decide when to push and when to hold back. Let’s do this together, healthy and strong.

We wish Tigst Assefa a smooth and full recovery.

References

  1. Kujala UM, Sarna S, Kaprio J. Cumulative incidence of Achilles tendon rupture and tendinopathy in male former elite athletes. Clin J Sport Med. 2005;15(3):133–135. PubMed
  2. Komi PV, Fukashiro S, Järvinen M. Biomechanical loading of Achilles tendon during normal locomotion. Clin Sports Med. 1992;11(3):521–531.
  3. Hoogkamer W, Kipp S, Frank JH, et al. A comparison of the energetic cost of running in marathon racing shoes. Sports Med. 2018;48(4):1009–1019. doi
  4. Magnusson SP, Kjaer M. The impact of loading, unloading, ageing and injury on the human tendon. J Physiol. 2019;597(5):1283–1298.
  5. Soligard T, Schwellnus M, Alonso JM, et al. How much is too much? (Part 1) IOC consensus statement on load in sport and risk of injury. Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(17):1030–1041. doi
  6. Mountjoy M, Ackerman KE, Bailey DM, et al. 2023 IOC consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). Br J Sports Med. 2023;57(17):1073–1097.
  7. Nieman DC, Wentz LM. The compelling link between physical activity and the body’s defense system. J Sport Health Sci. 2019;8(3):201–217. doi
  8. Reardon CL, Hainline B, Aron CM, et al. Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement (2019). Br J Sports Med. 2019;53(11):667–699. doi
  9. Tenforde A, Hoenig T, Saxena A, Hollander K. Bone stress injuries in runners using carbon fiber plate footwear.Sports Med. 2023;53(8):1499–1505. doi
  10. Hoenig T, et al. Navigating the challenges and opportunities with ‘super shoes’: balancing performance gains with injury risk. Br J Sports Med. 2023;57(23):1472. BJSM

Sources

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