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Sabastian Sawe made history on the streets of London with the first official marathon under two hours in the fastest race ever run over the 26.2-mile distance.
Sawe, the 29-year-old Kenyan, shattered the previous world record held by the late Kelvin Kiptum with an astonishing run of 1:59:30 that shaved 65 seconds off the previous best set by his compatriot in Chicago in 2023.
The two-hour barrier was long considered unbreakable in the marathon, but the great Eliud Kipchoge achieved a time of 1:59:40 under controlled conditions and with rotating pacemakers in 2019.
Sawe’s historic time was made even more incredible by second-placed Yomif Kejelcha, the marathon debutant from Ethiopia, also breaking the two-hour mark with a time of 1:59:41.
And Jacob Kiplimo, the 25-year-old Ugandan, would have also broken Kiptum’s previous best, but his time of 02:00:28 was only good enough for third. All three men also went under the late Kiptum’s previous London course record of 2:01:25.
Sawe’s previous best of 2:02:05 was achieved in winning the London Marathon last year, and he obliterated his personal best by two minutes of 25 seconds as he defended his London title.
Speaking ahead of his return to London, Sawe did not rule out a world record when asked about his chances. Asked if his shoes, the Adidas Pro Evo 3s, were of world record quality, the 29-year-old replied, simply: “Yep.”
In making history, Sawe also ran a negative split. He ran the first half of the course in 60:30, and came back in 59:00.
“I'm feeling good. I'm so happy. It's a day to remember for me. What comes today is not for me alone but for all of us today in London,’ Sawe said, confirming he was confident of breaking the world record before the race.
“We started the race well and approaching the end and finishing the race, I was feeling strong and I remembered my fellow champion athlete who was so competitive and I think he was the one who helped a lot,” he said.
“I'm finally reaching the finishing line. I saw the time and I was so excited to see running a world record today.”
There was also a new women-only record set in the women’s race as Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her London Marathon crown. Assefa held off the challenge of Hellen Obiri, pulling away with 500 meters remaining to win in 2:15:41 and take nine seconds off her time from last year. However, it was 16 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race.
The ‘Swiss Bullet’ Marcel Hug powered to a sixth straight men’s wheelchair title – equalling David Weir’s record total of eight – while Catherine Debrunner completed another Swiss double by beating Tatyana McFadden in a close finish to defend her women’s wheelchair title and win a third in a row.
More follows