By Elias Makori, Managing Editor
Ethiopian marathon star Tigist Assefa will undergo emergency surgery in Munich on Monday (September 28) to repair a broken right tendon, sidelining her for at least six months, her management has confirmed.
The devastating blow comes just hours after an agonizing leg injury in the final kilometres shattered her historic bid to reclaim the world record at Sunday's BMW Berlin Marathon, where she still managed a sensational, course-record time of two hours, 11 minutes and four seconds.
The 29-year-old former world record holder was well inside Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich’s world record mark of 2:09:56 toward the finish of the 52nd BMW Berlin Marathon. However, a sudden, agonizing right-leg injury in the final kilometres shattered her historic bid, forcing her to limp across the finish line before collapsing. Despite the trauma, her finishing time fell just 68 seconds outside the global mark.
Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa is aided by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie and a race official after she braved injury to win the BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday. (Photo / Getty Images / BMW Berlin Marathon
Specialized Orthopedic Treatment
Assefa’s management confirmed she was immediately flown to Munich for specialized orthopedic treatment and surgery.
“The right tendon is broken… she will undergo surgery tomorrow (Monday) in Munich with full assistance from Adidas and with Dr. Johannes Gabel, one of the best surgeons in Germany,” Assefa’s manager, Gianni Demadonna, exclusively told Pura Vida Sports Africa on Sunday evening.
Dr. Gabel is a highly respected surgeon known for his medical publications on complex joint injuries. In a recent paper in the Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM), Dr. Gabel and his colleagues detailed advanced 3D surgical techniques designed to minimize soft-tissue disruption and provide stable constructs for complex ankle fractures—expertise that will be vital for repairing the Ethiopian star's tendon.
Dr Gabel is also the Chief Physician of Foot and Ankle Surgery at the renowned BG Unfallklinik Murnau (Murnau Trauma Centre) in Germany.
Professor Jan Friederichs (left) and Dr Johannes Gabel (right) after conducting a successful Achilles tendon surgery on Latvian basketball star Janis Strelnieks at the Murnau clinic in Germany in 2023. Dr Gabel will perform surgery on injured Ethiopian marathoner Tigist Assefa on Monday. (Photo / Artūrs Kalnītis)
Six Months Out of Action
The road back to competition will be grueling. The injury derails a spectacular career trajectory for Assefa, who previously set the world record of 2:11:53 on the same Berlin course in 2023.
“It (recovery) will take long… maybe six months before we can see her in competition again,” added Demadonna.
Demadonna, 72 — an Italian marathon legend who famously finished second at the 1987 New York Marathon — now manages an elite stable of athletes, including world champion Peres Jepchirchir and former London Marathon champion Amos Kipruto.
In a striking historical coincidence, Assefa's agonizing 2:11:04 finish on Sunday was just three seconds slower than Ibrahim Hussein’s winning time (2:11:01) in the 1987 New York Marathon, the year Demadonna finished second to the Kenyan legend. Assefa's time was 49 seconds faster than Demadonna's own runner-up time in Central Park (2:11:53).
Among the famous patients to have gone under Dr Gabel’s scalpel are French football stars Franc Ribery and Lucas Hernandez, both to correct ankle injuries, and Latvian basketball star Janis Strelnieks (Achilles tendon, like Tigist’s). (elias.makori@ymail.com)
