Kenyan athlete Sabastian Sawe achieves historic sub-two-hour marathon feat

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Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour mark for the first time in history on Sunday in winning the London Marathon as Tigst Assefa smashed her own women’s-only world record.

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Kenya’s defending champion Sawe was locked in a tight battle with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in the closing stages but surged clear to cross the line in 1hr 59min 30sec.

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Kejelcha, running his first-ever marathon, also dipped under two hours, with a time of 1:59:41, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplomo third (2:00:28).

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All three finished under the previous men’s world record of 2:00:35 set in Chicago in 2023 by the late Kelvin Kiptum.

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“We started the race well and at the end of the race, I was feeling strong,” said Sawe.

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“Finally reaching the finishing line, I saw the time, and I was so excited to see I had run a world record today.

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“I was very prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me, and that’s why I prepared well for it.”

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Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in October 2019, becoming the first person in recorded history to do a sub-two-hour marathon.

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But the time was not ratified as a world record because he ran with specialised shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.

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Sawe, wearing Adidas’s new Pro Evo 3 supershoe, which weighs less than 100 grams, suggested before Sunday’s race that a course record or even a world record was in his sights.

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He led a group of six as they passed the half-way point in a time of 1:00:29.

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Sawe and Kejelcha pulled clear of the rest of the pack and stayed together until the final stages before the Kenyan kicked for home.

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– Assefa outstrips Obiri –

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In the women’s race, reigning Olympic and world silver medallist Assefa was locked in a three-way tussle with Kenyan pair Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei, but surged away in the closing stages to cross the line in a time of 2:15:41.

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That time beat by nine seconds the Ethiopian’s previous best, set on the same course last year.

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“I’m so happy to win again,” said Assefa. “To repeat my victory from last year means even more. The happiness I feel is just swelling up inside me.

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“It was one of my plans really coming into this competition to break my own world record from last year’s race. So to do that has brought me a lot of satisfaction.”

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Obiri, a two-time former world 5,000m champion who won marathon bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, came in second in a personal best of 2:15:53.

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She finished just two-hundredths of a second ahead of compatriot Jepkosgei.

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The world record set in a mixed race where female athletes benefit from male pacemakers was by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, who clocked 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2024.

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More than 59,000 people were expected to complete the 26.2-mile (42.2-km) course in the 46th London Marathon in warm spring weather.

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Last year’s race set a new world record for the number of finishers, with a total of 56,640 entrants completing the distance.

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Marathon organisers said last month they are exploring holding the event over two days next year, allowing up to 100,000 runners.

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The 2025 race raised a record £87.3 million ($118 million) for charity, setting a new world record for the biggest annual one-day fundraising event.

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