A photo of Paralympic gold medalist Richard Whitehead and Harry Styles at the Berlin Marathon is currently trending on social media, sparking excitement among fans of both figures. The image, posted by Whitehead on Instagram, shows the pair celebrating their accomplishment at the finish line of the 2025 Berlin Marathon.

Harry Styles, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter and former member of One Direction, participated in the marathon, running under the alias "Sted Sarandos". Styles completed the 26.2-mile race in an impressive 2 hours, 59 minutes, and 13 seconds. This sub-three-hour finish is a significant achievement for marathon runners, and places Styles in the top 5 percent of all finishers.

Styles' participation in the Berlin Marathon comes just months after he ran the Tokyo Marathon in March, where he finished with a time of 3 hours and 24 minutes. His Berlin time represents a significant improvement of nearly 25 minutes. At the Berlin Marathon, Styles maintained an average pace of 6:50 per mile (4:15 per kilometer). He ran the first half of the race in 1:29:08 and the second half in 1:30:06. Styles wore a black long-sleeved running shirt, black shorts, a sweatband, and sunglasses, along with fluorescent pink Nike Alphafly 3 running shoes. His bib number was 31261.

Richard Whitehead, a British athlete and Paralympian, also ran the Berlin Marathon. Whitehead was born with a double through-knee congenital amputation and runs with prosthetic legs. He has set world records for athletes with a double amputation in both full and half marathons. Whitehead is a two-time Paralympic gold medalist in the 200m. He won gold in the T42 200 metres at the 2012 London Paralympics and the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He also won a silver medal in the T42 100 metres at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In 2025, Whitehead announced that he would be running 20 marathons throughout the year to mark his first marathon in New York in 2004.

Whitehead posted the photo with Styles on Instagram with the caption: “2.58 in Berlin with my mate!! Anyone know him!! 😂”. The photo quickly went viral, with fans praising both athletes for their achievements.

The Berlin Marathon is considered one of the fastest marathon courses in the world. The 2025 marathon saw Kenya's Sabastian Sawe win with a time of 2:02:16. Approximately 55,000 runners participated in the race.