Calli Hauger-Thackery ran the second fastest marathon time by a European athlete in the Berlin Marathon on Sunday (29) afternoon as long-standing Danish and Hungarian records fell in both the Berlin and Warsaw Marathons.
Less than two months after recording a DNF in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Hauger-Thackery stormed to a lifetime best of 2:21:24 as a late entrant in the German capital, a time which has only been bettered by Sifan Hassan’s 2:18:05 in the Tokyo Marathon from a European perspective.
Hauger-Thackery finished seventh overall and her time consolidates her position at second on the British all-time behind Paula Radcliffe’s former world record of 2:15:25 set in the 2003 London Marathon.
“I didn’t train the way I did leading up to the Olympics for nothing so I’ll settle for a seventh-place finish at my first world major and a 2:21:24 PB.
“As some of you know, I’ve just had some of the most challenging weeks of my life, so I’m so proud of this performance for so many reasons,” said Hauger-Thackery, who also won a bronze medal in the half marathon at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Hungarian men's and women's marathon records fall
Seven European athletes finished inside the top-20 including Nora Szabo who finished 17th in a Hungarian record of 2:27:31, improving her previous mark of 2:28:25 from last year’s Seville Marathon.
In the men’s race, Germany’s Sebastian Hendel took the domestic plaudits by finishing 17th in a lifetime best of 2:07:33.
But not far behind him, Denmark’s Jacob Sommer Simonsen demolished his lifetime best, improving from 2:11:22 down to 2:07:51 to take ownership of the Danish marathon record.
The previous Danish marathon record dates back to 1985 when the late Henrik Jørgensen clocked 2:09:43 in the London Marathon.
In the Warsaw Marathon on Sunday (29), Levente Szemerei took the victory in the men’s race in 2:10:43 to smash the previous Hungarian record of 2:12:10 which had stood on the books since 1993.
In the women’s race, Ukraine’s Olga Nyzhnyk took the victory in 2:31:24 ahead of Poland’s Izabela Paszkiewicz in 2:32:42.
Steven Mills for European Athletics