It’s historic, Sebastian Sawe has crossed a symbolic threshold: that of 2 hours in the marathon. The Kenyan covered the 42.195 km in the London capital in 1h59’30. He outstripped the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who also did it in less than two hours, and the Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo. In ideal conditions, bright sun, 18 degrees, no wind, the British edition also offered two records since among women the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa also achieved the fastest time in history for a exclusively female race, after 2 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds of effort.
Sawe’s performance, 29 years old, however, captured all the spotlight after 42.195 km covered at an ogre’s pace, first within a small group of six, then with Yomif Kejelcha and Jacob Kiplimo in escape. The clock stopped at 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, more than a minute less than the previous world record set by Kiptum (2h00’35) in April 2023 in Chicago, less than a year before the car accident in which he was involved.
A fantastic podium
“I feel good, I am so happy. This is a memorable day for me,” reacted briefly the winner, speaking to the BBC microphone. The Kenyan placed a final acceleration to pull away from his deserving rivals and cross, alone in the world, the finish line on the famous avenue leading to Buckingham Palace. Equally incredibly, the former mark set by Kiptum was surpassed by the other two podium members, Kejelcha (1h59:41) and Kiplimo (2h00:28).
The performance is even more remarkable for Kejelcha as the 28-year-old Ethiopian, a specialist in half marathons, was aligning for the first time on the full distance. The Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, second last year (2 h 03 min 37 sec) in his first marathon, completes this fantastic podium.
World record for Assefa
Earlier, the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa also wrote a piece of history on Sunday, retaining her title in London with a new world record in a non-mixed race, exclusively for women (others have gone faster but by running amidst men).
The 29-year-old athlete sprinted in the final meters to outpace the Kenyans Joyciline Jepkosgei and Hellen Obiri, with whom she ran the entire race, and crossed the line after 2 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds of effort. That’s nine seconds less than the previous world record, which she herself set last year on the same course, between the Greenwich district and The Mall avenue, its terminus.
Another man, the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge had already run a marathon in under two hours, in 2019 in Vienna (1h 59h 41 sec), in an exhibition where he was aided by 41 pacemakers, which prevented the homologation of a record.
/2026/04/26/69edeeccecec7342242899.jpg "Kenyan Sabastian Sawe becomes the first man to run the marathon in less than two hours by shattering the world record in London")
