Sebastian Sawe of Kenya crosses the finish line to win the men’s race at the London Marathon in London, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP) For the first time in the history of the marathon, the two-hour mark was officially broken.Kenyan Sabastian Sawe became the first person to officially break the two-hour mark in a marathon after winning the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday.It was a landmark moment in athletics as Sawe broke the men’s world record by 65 seconds. Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia also finished under two hours, crossing the line in 1:59:41 in his first ever marathon. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28, which was also faster than the previous world record.The previous men’s world record was 2:00:35, set by Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023.All three runners on Sunday finished faster than this mark.Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in October 2019 to become the first person in recorded history to finish a marathon under two hours.However, that time was not recognized as a world record because he used specialized shoes, did not follow standard competition rules for stimulation and fluids, and was not an open event.Sawe, wearing Adidas’ new Pro Evo 3 super shoe weighing less than 100 grams, said before the race that he was aiming for a course record or even a world record.He was part of a leading group of six runners that crossed the halfway mark in 1:00:29.Later, Sawe and Kejelcha moved ahead of the rest of the field and stayed together until the closing stages before the Kenyan made his move and cruised to victory.
