The Ethiopian Fotyen Tesfay, who was debuting in the marathon distance, starred in one of the most impactful performances remembered at the Zurich Marathon of Barcelona 2026.
Tesfay crossed the finish line with an official time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 53 seconds, lowering the previous record of the event by almost nine minutes.
The previous record belonged to the Kenyan Sharon Chelimo, who in the 2025 edition had won with 2:19:33.
The mark achieved by Tesfay not only represents a new record for Barcelona: it also makes her the second fastest woman in history to complete a marathon.
Barcelona dreamed for kilometers with the world record
During a good part of the race, Barcelona lived with the sensation that the women's world record could fall.
The current world record belongs to the Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, who achieved 2:09:56 in the Chicago Marathon 2024.
At kilometer 30, Tesfay was projecting a time capable of surpassing that record. In fact, she passed that point of the race with 1:32:00, which kept alive the dream of seeing the fastest women's marathon in history.
However, the extremely high pace -always close to three minutes per kilometer- ended up taking its toll in the last kilometers.
Even so, the Ethiopian managed to resist until the finish line with a historic mark.
The women's podium of the Barcelona Marathon 2026
The women's podium of the Zurich Marathon of Barcelona was composed of:
- Fotyen Tesfay (Ethiopia)- 2:10:53
- Joan Jepkosgei (Kenya)- 2:18:42
- Zeneiba Yimer (Ethiopia)- 2:18:49
The three athletes lowered the previous mark of the circuit.
Abel Chelangat wins the men's race
In the men's category, the winner was the Ugandan Abel Chelangat, who won with a time of 2:04:57.
During a good part of the race the front group rode at a very high pace, which fueled the possibility that the circuit record could also fall.
The record was held by the Ethiopian Tesfaye Deriba, who in 2025 won with 2:04:13.
Finally, Chelangat launched the decisive attack in the last kilometers and crossed the finish line alone.
The men's podium was as follows:
- Abel Chelangat (Uganda) - 2:04:57
- Patrick Kabirech (Kenya) - 2:05:01
- Jonathan Samanayo (Ecuador) - 2:05:29
Ricardo Rosado and Carolina Robles, champions of Spain of marathon
The Zurich Marathon of Barcelona also hosted the Spanish Marathon Championship.
In masculine category:
- The Madrid native Ricardo Rosado was proclaimed champion of Spain with a time of 2:13:31.
- José Ignacio Giménez - 2:14:18
- Cristian Martínez Alaez - 2:16:19
In the women's category, the victory went to the Sevillian Carolina Robles, who completed the race in 2:24:58.
The national women's podium was formed by:
- Carolina Robles - 2:24:58
- Carolina Torres - 2:32:30
- Fabia Lafuente - 2:36:43
The Barcelona Marathon consolidates itself among the greats of Europe
Beyond the elite, the Barcelona Marathon 2026 once again demonstrated its enormous convening power.
The race reached 32,000 bib numbers sold, greatly surpassing the 27,000 participants of the previous edition.
With that sustained growth, Barcelona is already consolidating itself as one of the five most popular marathons in Europe, in a race that continues to grow from the historical peak of 20,000 runners reached in 2016 and 2017.