Tigist Assefa: "I'm going to give everything to get as close as possible to the times of men"

Exactly one month and two days ago, Tigist Assefa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1996) broke the marathon world record in Berlin. No woman had ever gone under two hours and 14 minutes and she, with a stroke of a pen, set it at 2:11:53, at an astonishing pace of 3:07 per kilometer.. A true feat that speaks of the limits of athletics and that the Ethiopian has tried to assimilate before embarking on new challenges.. Visiting Madrid thanks to the Sanitas Foundation – she and Michael Johnson were the ambassadors of the 12th week of inclusive sports – the athlete, who expresses herself in the Amharic language, talks with EL MUNDO thanks to her husband's translation.

Did you have time to reflect on your feat? It has been a month of great happiness, of thinking about the success achieved. But everything continues and we have to look forward. I am now 100% physically recovered, without any problems.. And I have started with light and simple training, still without heavy loads. 15 days after his mark, Kelvin Kiptum also broke the men's record (in Chicago, 2:00.35). You were both facing only your third marathon, you are both young. Is it a revolution? Yes, true, for Kiptum it was also his third marathon, like me and we both broke the world record. I think something is changing. He is a very strong athlete and so am I.. It is possible that both of us could break the record again. Do athletes think a lot about limits? I believe that athletics has no limits. Really, all I think about is getting under 2:10.. It won't be easy, but I'm motivated to train hard for it and try it next time.. It's my motivation. The attempt will be again in Berlin. Do you think that in the coming years we are going to see how the women's marks are going to get closer to those of the men in the marathon? (Laughs) I am proud of the women, that the times are increasingly closer to those of men. For my part, I will push hard and work hard to try to get as close to the men's times as possible.

Tigist Assefa. Angel Navarrete WORLD Tell me about the 'magic slippers'. In Berlin he broke the record with the Adidas Pro EVO 1 (they weigh 136 grams). How much do they help? These shoes, the EVO, were fantastic for me, because I was able to go so fast, so that my muscles did not suffer, because of their comfort. It has been shown that in marathons shoes are essential and we are seeing the progress. EVO is a perfect shoe, I am happy with them. But, with another model, would the brand have been worse? EVO is perfect, but I think that with any other shoe Adidas would have also set the record. The weather would have been the same that day. It was the first time he put them on.. Didn't it cause you any anxiety to release them for the competition? Yes, I was a little confused.. Although I was not nervous, before the race I was a little afraid to try them, it was the first time. Afterwards, it was all happiness. I think it's a little unfair that so much is said about the shoes and less about the athlete.. After the record in Berlin, only people talked about them, their price, their weight…. It's marketing, but I understand it. She started as a track athlete in 800 meters (she was an Olympian in Rio). Why such a radical jump to the marathon? I was a speed athlete, of short distances, but I had an injury to my leg, to the Achilles. It was hard, I couldn't run on the track, the nails hurt me and the only option was to switch to the road. And that's why I started with the marathon. Now I am happy and have no pain.

Assefa, after breaking the world record in Berlin. ANDREAS GORA MUNDO Does that 'sprinter' past help you now? Yes, having been fast in 400 and 800 meters before helps me now, for sure, definitely. Because speed is also essential for the marathon. What are your next goals? My main goal is gold in the Olympic Games. Being an Olympic champion in Paris is a dream. And the second objective will be to beat the world record again.. The marathon is the marathon, it is not easy to lower those marks. But you can always improve in the future, always through training, that's the key. For those who don't know, who is Tigist Assefa? I come from a family of governors in my region, in Addis Ababa. I started athletics in high school. At that time I was a very, very skinny girl and I loved to run. She was going very fast, she was the fastest. I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up, apart from sports. But I was clear that any challenge in life I was going to face with strength and never give up, whatever it was. What are your hobbies outside of sports? I love watching movies and also swimming. It's something that helps me, sometimes I do races in the pool, a couple of times a month. How does it feel to suddenly be such a famous woman? That's the worst thing on my record, having to deal with fame all of a sudden. It's complicated, because my life is very different now, many people know me. I'm very happy, but it's too stressful.