Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line of the London Marathon in 1:59:30, becoming the first person to run an official marathon under two hours.
The Kenyan’s time eclipses the previous world record set by his compatriot Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023 by 65 seconds. Kiptum died in a traffic accident in February 2024, just months after setting that mark.
While Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019, that attempt occurred under controlled, non-public conditions with rotating pacemakers and was never ratified as a world record. Sawe’s London run, conducted under standard race regulations with multiple pacemakers from the start, is the first sub-two-hour performance to count officially.
Sawe and Ethiopian debutant Yomif Kejelcha broke away from the lead pack around the 30-kilometre mark. Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, also under the two-hour barrier, while Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo took third in 2:00:28 — still faster than the traditional record.
Amanal Petros, Germany’s national record holder, ran a conservative race and fell off the pace after 25 kilometres. He finished 15th in 2:08:31, more than four minutes slower than his personal best of 2:04:03.
In the women’s race, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia won in 2:15:41, just 16 seconds shy of Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 London course record.
Sawe credited the crowd for his performance, telling the BBC: “I saw the time and was totally excited. You helped me a lot. I feel so happy and strong, like I’m moving forward. What I achieved today is not only my doing, but the doing of all of us here in London.”
Why does this record count when Kipchoge’s 2019 run did not?
Kipchoge’s Vienna run was a specially arranged event with shifting pacemakers and no open competition, violating World Athletics rules for record eligibility. Sawe’s London Marathon was a standard World Marathon Majors race, making his time eligible for ratification.
What are the implications for future marathon records?
With three men breaking two hours in the same race, the psychological and physiological barrier has been formally breached in open competition. This may accelerate further advances, though World Athletics has not indicated any plans to adjust record validation criteria.
