From finish line to hospital – Wanjiru’s ‘most painful but sweetest’ victory in Berlin
Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru crosses the line to win the Women’s elite race during Berlin Marathon in Germany on September 21, 2025. Photo credit: Annegret Hilse | Reuters
In Berlin, Germany
The newly crowned Berlin Marathon champion Rosemary Wanjiru has described her win on Sunday as the sweetest of her career yet.
Wanjiru clocked 2 hours 21 minutes and 5 seconds to win the 51st edition of the race, three seconds ahead of the fast-finishing Ethiopian Dera Dida. Another Ethiopian Azmera finished third in 2:21:29.
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However, in a dramatic turn of events, Wanjiru collapsed from sheer exhaustion immediately after crossing the finish line and was rushed to the hospital, forcing the highly anticipated women’s medal ceremony to be cancelled.
Nation Sport found her in good spirits at her hotel in Berlin after she had been discharged from the hospital later that day.
She confessed that the unseasonably warm weather conditions had gotten the better of her in the gruelling final stages of the race.
“With 1,200m remaining, I could feel my body was struggling. Yes, my legs were moving but I could feel I didn’t have any energy left.
However, because I could see the finish line, I told myself, ‘If I have to collapse, then let it be after crossing the finish line’,” said Wanjiru.
She explained that she pushed her body to its absolute limit in the closing stages and the last thing she remembers was the euphoric moment of breaking the tape before finding herself disoriented on a hospital bed.
Medical staff informed her that her blood sugar levels had dropped precipitously, causing severe energy depletion, but assured her there was nothing to worry about in the long-term.
“I will never forget this race. I have never finished a race in a hospital; this is the first time,” Wanjiru said with a laugh.
“It was the most painful but sweetest victory I have ever tasted.”
Personal best
Prior to the race, Wanjiru, 30, had declared her ambitious intention of targeting her impressive personal best time of 2:16:28 that she registered at her first Marathon Majors victory, the 2023 Tokyo Marathon.
“Even during the warm up I could feel the temperatures was a bit high for me and I normally struggle to run fast in such conditions, so I decided to just focus on winning and abandoned the PB mission,” explained Wanjiru.
The weather man had predicted that the temperatures would rise to about 20-23 degrees Celsius.
In the latter parts of the race the figure climbed to about 25 degrees.
“We had been told that, the temperatures might go down a little bit, but instead it become hotter.
If it had been like the other time I was here, I could have lowered my personal best by far,” said Wanjiru.
She made her marathon debut in Berlin in 2022, finishing second in a time of 2:18:00.
Sunday’s victory was her second Marathon Majors win.
Wanjiru said she will take some time off to recover as she plans for the next season.
