First sub‑2‑hour marathon: Sabastian Sawe runs 1:59:30 to win London
- Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon on Sunday in 1:59:30, becoming the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon race. - Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41 on his marathon debut, and Jacob Kiplimo took third in 2:00:28, both under Kelvin Kiptum’s old record. - The mark cut 65 seconds off Kiptum’s 2:00:35 world record from Chicago in 2023. (worldathletics.org)
Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon on April 26 in 1:59:30, the first sub-two-hour time ever run in an official, record-eligible marathon race. (worldathletics.org) (espn.com) The Kenyan defended the London title he won in 2025 and took 65 seconds off Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 world record from the 2023 Chicago Marathon. (worldathletics.org) (nbcsports.com) Sawe reached halfway in 1:00:29 with a six-man lead group, then pulled clear of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in the final mile after the pair surged away between 30 and 40 kilometers. (worldathletics.org) Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, the fastest marathon debut in history, and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo took third in 2:00:28. All three beat the previous official world record. (worldathletics.org) (espn.com) The two-hour barrier had been breached before, but not in a record-eligible race. Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40.2 in Vienna in 2019 under exhibition conditions with rotating pacers and other controls that do not count for official records. (nbcsports.com) That distinction is why London mattered. World Athletics described Sawe as the first man to officially break two hours for the marathon distance in a Platinum Label road race. (worldathletics.org) Sawe said he had prepared for four months for his second London appearance and called it “a day to remember for me” after seeing the clock at the finish. (worldathletics.org) The race also produced another record in the women’s field, where Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her title in 2:15:41, a women-only world record. (worldathletics.org) (espn.com) London’s top three men turned one race into a reset of the event’s limits: 1:59:30, 1:59:41 and 2:00:28, all on the same morning on The Mall. (worldathletics.org)
