Greek runner Fotis Zisimopoulos broke the record and won the 41st Spartathlon

Greek runner Fotis Zisimopoulos achieved a historic victory in the 41st Spartathlon, surpassing the record set by Yannis Kouros in 1984.

The 41-year-old police officer completed the run in a stunning time of 19 hours 55 minutes 2 seconds, beating the previous record of 20 hours 25 minutes. This is Zisimopoulos’ third consecutive Spartathlon victory. He arrived at the statue of the ancient Spartan king Leonidas in Sparta early Sunday morning, greeted by an enthusiastic crowd.

In honor of his achievement, Zisimopoulos received an olive wreath and traditionally took a sip of water from the Evrotas River, a ritual for all finishing athletes.

Norway’s Simen Holvik took second place, followed by Finland’s Noura Honkala, who took first place in the women’s event.

The Spartathlon started at the foot of the Acropolis hill on Saturday morning. 380 people from 50 countries took part in it. The percentage of participants rarely exceeds 40%.

Spartathlon is an ultra-marathon race 246 km (153 miles), held annually in Greece since 1983 between Athens and Sparti, the modern city on the site of ancient Sparta. The Spartathlon is based on the race of Pheidippides, who, before the Battle of Marathon, ran from Athens to Sparta in one and a half days in search of help against the Persians. In 1982, five British Air Force officers attempted the course and the competition began the following year.

As the race’s popularity grew, strict selection criteria were introduced to ensure that participants were fit enough to complete the course. There are 75 checkpoints at which competition officials disqualify competitors who do not meet the time limit or are too tired to continue the race.

In 2023, Camilla Herron set a new women’s record for the course – 22 hours 35 minutes 31 seconds, which is 2 hours 12 minutes 53 seconds better than the previous one, and became the first woman to complete the distance in 24 hours. Fotis Zisimopoulos won for the third time and set a new men’s course record of 19 hours 55 minutes 2 seconds, becoming the first athlete to complete the distance in less than 20 hours and breaking the long-standing record of Iannis Kouros, set in 1984.

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