Kenyan Sabastian Sawe produced one of the greatest performances in marathon history at the London Marathon, becoming the first man to break the two-hour mark in official race conditions with a world record of 1:59:30.
Sawe’s remarkable victory rewrote the sport’s history books, knocking 65 seconds off the previous world record of 2:00:35 set by Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago 2023. It also made him the first man to run a legal sub-two-hour marathon, beating Eliud Kipchoge’s exhibition mark of 191:54:29.
Watch Sabastian Sawe run 1:59:30 to destroy the London Marathon World Record!!
First man to break 2 hours in a marathon.
2. Yomif Kejelcha 1:59:41
3. Jacob Kiplimo 2:00:28
All for the previous world record.pic.twitter.com/g76PpMHkiG— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) April 26, 2026
Kejelcha and Kiplimo complete the historic race
Sawe was not alone in producing history on the streets of London.
Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, setting an Ethiopian record, recording the second fastest marathon in history and making the fastest marathon debut ever. Yomif Kejelcha broke the two-hour mark in his first ever marathon. Image: AP
Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo was third in 2:00:28, also within the previous world record, as London became the first marathon in history to produce three men under the old global mark in the same race.
The depth of the men’s race underlined how extraordinary the pace was with Amos Kipruto finishing fourth in a personal best 2:01:39, Olympic champion Tamirat Tola in 2:02:59 and Deresa Geleta sixth in 2:03:23.
A quick start laid the foundations of history
From the opening miles the leading group made their intentions clear.
Sawe, Kejelcha, Kiplimo, Tola, Kipruto and Geleta covered 5km in 14:14, a controlled but ambitious pace that immediately suggested something special. They stayed together through 10km in 28:34 and 15km in 43:10 before reaching the halfway mark in 1:00:29.
The leading sextet remained tight for most of the next 10km, but the relentless pace began to take its toll as the race moved past 30km.
Sawe makes a decisive late move
The decisive move came between 30km and 35km when Sawe and Kejelcha began to move away, pulling away from Kiplim to build a 21-second lead over the Ugandan.
Over the next 5km they picked up the pace again and completed the section in 13:42 as the possibility of a sub-two hour finish became more real with each step.
Sawe finally broke Kejelch’s resistance with a mile to go and surged in the closing stages to finish alone on The Mall to complete one of the greatest marathon performances ever produced.
The Kenyan’s split time of 59:01 only underlined the scale of the achievement, capping off a ruthless and perfectly timed title defense in one of the most extraordinary races the London Marathon has ever seen.
– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
26 Apr 2026 17:43 IST
