The top international athletes of the 50th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON

^{Tigist Ketema won this year's Dubai Marathon © PhotoColombo}

Tigist Ketema hints a fast race
Tigist Ketema will be travelling to the women's race as the winner of this year's Dubai Marathon. The Ethiopian won the race in 2:16:07 hours, which was a course record. It was her first official start over the 42.195 kilometre distance. No woman before her had ever run a marathon faster. Rosemary Wanjiru, the runner-up of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2022, is returning to the Spree. The Kenyan ran 2:18:00 hours in Berlin. Last year, she won the Tokyo Marathon in an outstanding 2:16:28. With the two Ethiopians Genzebe Dibaba and Yebrgual Melese, there are two other athletes on the list of starters who have best times of under 2:20 hours with 2:18:05 and 2:19:36 respectively. With such a high level of performance, we can once again expect a spirited battle for places in the women's field.

The top ten women

Tadese Takele as favourite with ambitions

Tadese Takele and Ronald Korir finished third and fourth respectively at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2023 with times of 2:03:24 and 2:04:22. This year, the two are aiming to make it to the top of the podium. The Ethiopian Takele in particular can be expected to do so, as he has a much better personal best than the Kenyan Korir with his 2:03 time. With Cybrian Kotut (KEN), Hailemaryam Kiros (ETH), Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) and the Ethiopian Bazezew Asmare, there are four more runners on the starting list who have best times of under 2:05 hours.

As a former half marathon world record holder (57:32 minutes), Kibiwott has enormous potential for the marathon. It will also be interesting to see how the Kenyan Stephen Kiprop, who convincingly won the Daegu Marathon in April in 2:07:04 hours, performs. This means that the men's race on Berlin's streets is also bound to be exciting.

^{Ronald Korir took 4th place at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2023 © SCC EVENTS / Petko Beier}

The top ten men

Next week we will present the top national athletes of the 50th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON in another press release.

Partners expand commitment
Generali Deutschland AG recently announced that it is expanding its commitment as a partner of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON.
Stefan Lehmann, CEO of Generali Deutschland AG: "Generali has been a supporter of sports for many years. With the ''Generali bewegt Deutschland‘' initiative, we are committed to popular sports. At the same time, as a national supporter of Deutsche Sporthilfe, we promote top athletes who inspire people to engage in sports with their outstanding performances. We are the title sponsor of the marathons in Munich and Cologne as well as the Berlin Half Marathon and are now looking forward to expanding our commitment as co-sponsor of the marathon in Berlin.

Running as a popular sport unites people from different backgrounds, age groups and fitness levels and thus enhances social interaction. With the 'GENERALI 5K' run and the 'mini-Marathon presented by Generali', we want to use the community-building power of sports to attract even more people to take up running and encourage them to lead an active lifestyle."

Christian Jost, in his function as one of the two managing directors of SCC EVENTS, the organiser of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, adds: "We are very pleased that Generali Deutschland AG is expanding its involvement in the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. Generali Deutschland AG is an important partner for SCC EVENTS and we have held them in high regard for many years. The 'Generali moves Germany' initiative, for example, shows how well we fit together, because movement and togetherness are also firmly anchored in SCC EVENTS' mission statement as essential values, just like the basic principles of the aforementioned initiative.

In addition, the professional services organization EY will be a co-sponsor of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON in the years 2024 and 2025 and the online platform Zalando will be a partner of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON in 2024.

Bib numbers and media accreditation
Although registration to take part in the start lottery for the 50th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON has ended, there are still opportunities to secure a bib number. It is still possible to secure a starting place for the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2024 via our charity partners and our official tour operators. It is also still possible to register for the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON Inline Skating. The submission of the accreditation application for the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2024 is still only possible via the online form on our website in the media section.

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1.) Tigist Ketema won this year's Dubai Marathons
Photo credit: PhotoColombo

2.) Rosemary Wanjiru at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON in 2022
Photo credit: SCC EVENTS_Camera4

3.) Tadese Takele won 3rd place at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2023
Photo credit: SCC EVENTS_Camera4

4.) Ronald Korir took 4th place at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2023
Photo credits: SCC EVENTS_Petko Beier