Sabastian Sawe made London Marathon history by becoming the first athlete to complete a sub-two hour marathon in a competitive race.
The 31-year-old Kenyan crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds to win. This is more than a minute faster than the previous record of 2 hours and 35 minutes set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in 2023.
The great Eliud Kipchoge became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours in 2019, but the race was held under controlled conditions, making it unworthy of the record.
Sawe, who had already achieved a world record time of 1:00:29, was able to outrun Kipchoge’s record in the second half of the race.
Sawe made a decisive move ahead of the final 10km, with only debutant Yomif Kejelcha able to cover his surge from the front.
Kejelcha, making his marathon debut, became only the second man to run under two hours under race conditions, finishing runner-up in 1:59:41.
Half marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimo also crossed the line faster than Kiptum’s previous record, completing the podium in 2 hours and 28 minutes.
“I feel good. I’m so happy. It’s a memorable day for me,” Saweh told BBC TV.
“We started the race well. By the end of the race, I was feeling good. When I finally got to the finish line, I was so excited to see the time.”
