Berlin Marathon 2026 Elite Field: Sawe Withdraws, Assefa Eyes the World Record

When Sabastian Sawe crossed the London Marathon finish line in 1:59:30 this April, he did not just break the two-hour barrier for the first time in official competition. He reset the entire conversation around what an elite marathon start list can look like. The BMW Berlin Marathon 2026 responded by building its deepest field in 52 years — 25 men under 2:08, Tigst Assefa targeting the women’s world record, and Sawe returning as defending champion.

Then on 27 August, four weeks before race day, Sawe pulled out. An undisclosed injury. No timeline given. His Instagram post said it was “with a heavy heart” that he was withdrawing and that he had hoped to “achieve something special on the streets of Berlin.”

The field is still exceptional. The women’s race is still the most compelling world record attempt in marathon running this year. But the men’s race is now genuinely open, and understanding who is left — and what they can do — is where September 27 gets interesting.

Berlin Marathon 2026 Men’s Elite Field: Start List After Sawe’s Withdrawal

Six men on the updated start list have run under 2:05. Twenty-two of the 36 international men have run 2:06:57 or better. An Olympic 10,000m gold medallist sits seventh on the revised seeding. The field that was built around Sawe is now a genuine open race.

Who wins the men’s race now? Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay is the fastest man in the field on paper. His 2:03:00 from Valencia in 2022 sits inside the all-time top 20. He was the Boston runner-up in 2023. The gap since his last major podium is a question. The ability is not in doubt.

Guye Adola is the most complete case in the field. He debuted in Berlin in 2017 with a 2:03:46 — finishing behind only Kipchoge. He won the race in 2021. This spring he won Rotterdam in 2:03:54, which puts his form firmly in the current tense. Nobody left on this start list knows the course better or arrives with more relevant recent evidence. This is his race to lose.

Selemon Barega is the variable the field cannot fully account for. A 2021 Olympic 10,000m gold medallist making his way in the marathon, his 2:05:00 personal best comes with genuine speed and an open question about what his second half looks like in a major at pace. Berlin’s flat course is as close to track conditions as a marathon gets. That suits him. The unpredictability is the point.

Berlin Marathon 2026 Women’s Elite Field: Assefa’s World Record Attempt

Tigst Assefa has won this race twice. In 2022 she ran 2:15:37 on her Berlin debut, improving her personal best by nearly 20 minutes in one race. In 2023 she came back and ran 2:11:53 — still the second-fastest marathon any woman has ever run and the Berlin course record. She knows this course. She knows what it can do for her.

Eight women in the field have run under 2:20. That is the deepest women’s field on this start line by some margin.

Three Things to Watch on September 27

1. Can Guye Adola hold off Geay over the final 10km?

With Sawe gone the men’s race becomes a tactical question rather than a time trial. Adola and Geay are the two men with the strongest combination of personal best and relevant form. Adola knows the course cold. Geay has more raw speed on paper. The race will likely settle between them after Potsdamer Platz at km 30 — Berlin’s traditional point where disciplined runners separate from the field. If Adola arrives there with Geay at his shoulder, it becomes a very different race from the one Berlin has typically produced. Barega is the third variable. His track instincts mean he could be dangerous over the final 5km if he arrives there intact.

2. Assefa and the 2:09 barrier

No woman has broken 2:10 in a sanctioned race with a standard pacing setup. Chepng’etich’s 2:09:56 in Chicago used mixed-sex pacemakers and the record stands under current World Athletics rules. Assefa’s 2:11:53 here in 2023 is the reference point. If she runs 2:10 or faster in Berlin on September 27, it is one of the most significant performances in the history of the event. The women’s race is the reason to set an alarm.

3. Japan’s deepest overseas marathon squad in decades

Seven Japanese men on the start list, six of them under 2:07: Kenya Sonota (2:05:59), Tsubasa Ichiyama (2:06:00), Kiyoto Hirabayashi (2:06:14), Yuhei Urano (2:06:23), Hidekazu Hijikata (2:06:26), Yusuke Nishiyama (2:06:31) and Naoki Koyama (2:06:33). That is a national squad-level presence at a single overseas race, comparable to what Japan fields domestically at Fukuoka or Tokyo. Japan’s marathon infrastructure is producing sub-2:07 runners at a volume no other nation outside East Africa can currently match. Watch how they run collectively — Japan’s athletes in big international fields tend to move together tactically through the middle kilometres before separating on the Ku’damm.