2024 Berlin Marathon preview: Full schedule and how to watch the action live
Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele and Tigist Ketema are among the favourites at this year's Berlin marathon. Find out everything you need to know about the anniversary race that will be streamed live on Olympics.com.
After a busy and track and field season, the World Marathon Majors resume with the 50th edition of the 2024 Berlin Marathon on Sunday (29 September).
For the first time in 11 years, Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele will not be competing on the course that made them once the fastest marathon runners in the world.
But even in the absence of the two legends, the 2024 Berlin marathon has a stacked roster on its 50th anniversary.
The Ethiopian pair of Tadese Takele and Tigist Ketema headline the field as the fastest runners in the men's and women’s competitions respectively but it looks to be another fierce battle between the marathon powerhouses Ethiopia and Kenya.
Here is everything you need to know about who to watch, the schedule and where to watch the 2024 Berlin Marathon.
Athletes to watch at the 2024 Berlin Marathon
Tadese Takele headline the men’s field
Takele had a strong showing last year, when Kipchoge clinched a historic fifth victory in the German capital.
Kipchoge has barely recovered from a difficult Paris Olympic marathon where he was forced to drop out after the 30km. And as he ponders his next move, several men including Takele are hoping to follow in his footsteps. Takele finished third in last year’s race with a time of 2:03:24.
The 22-year old Takele will only be racing in his second full marathon after his impressive debut last year. The world U20 silver medallist over the 3000m steeplechase has the fastest time in the men's elite field.
Six men come into the race with lifetime bests under 2:05.
Another man to keep an eye on is Kibiwott Kandie, the former world half marathon record holder who’s won the last three consecutive editions of the Valencia 21km road run.
The Kenyan has not raced over the full marathon distance since last year. The reigning Daegu marathon winner Stephen Kiprop (Kenya) will also be making his debut Berlin Marathon on the 29 September.
Ethiopia's Tigist Ketema and Genzebe Dibaba are among favourites for Berlin 2024 women's title
Ethiopians lead the list of the fastest women in the field, occupying eight of the top 10 positions led by Ketema.
Ketema has kept a low profile since her eye-catching 2:16:07 course record at the 2024 Dubai marathon in January which was her first ever marathon. Three months later, she came in seventh in London behind the winner Peres Jepchirchir.
Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Genzebe Dibaba is ready for her Berlin Marathon debut, seeking to better her personal best of 2:21:47, set at the 2023 Chicago marathon.
They will line up alongside country mates Yebregual Melese, Mestawot Fikir, Azmera Gebru, Sisay Meseret Gola, Ababel Yeshaneh, Fiktre Wereta and Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda, sixth at last year’s Tokyo Marathon.
Berlin Marathon 2024 schedule
The Berlin Marathon will start at 8:50 am (CEST) on Sunday 29 September with runners beginning in four different waves.
- 8:50am - Elite
- 8:56am -Wheelchair athletes
- 8:59am - Handbikers
- 9:15am -10:30am -Start of the mass runs in four waves
How to watch the 2024 Berlin Marathon
This year’s Berlin Marathon will be broadcast live on Olympics.com in a number of territories including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
For a full list of global broadcasters and how to watch the 2024 Berlin Marathon, click here.