Kenyan Sabastian Sawe becomes the first man to run the marathon in less than two hours by shattering the world record in London

The runner completed the 42.195 kilometers in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds on Sunday.

A historic marathon race. Kenyan Sabastian Sawe (29 years old) became the first athlete to run a marathon in less than two hours on Sunday, April 26, in London, where he retained his title ahead of Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who also finished under two hours, and Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo. Sawe crossed the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace after 1h59’30” and shattered the old world record set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2h00’35” in October 2023, a few months before his accident.

In a race that will go down in history for several reasons, the top two competitors finished under two hours, and the first three achieved a better time than the now former world record. Yomif Kejelcha completed the 42.195 kilometers in 1h59’41”, an incredible performance given that the half marathon specialist was competing for the first time in the full marathon distance. Jacob Kiplimo, who finished second in 2025 in his debut marathon, completed the race in 2h00’28”.

The two-hour barrier was symbolically broken by another Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, in 2019, in an event held in Vienna and ran in 1h59’40”, slightly slower than the best time of the day in London. However, this time was not officially recognized as it was not achieved in official race conditions.

This 2026 edition of the London Marathon is truly breaking records, as in the women’s race, Ethiopian Tigist Assefa also improved her own world record in an all-female race by winning in 2h15’41” (compared to 2h15’50” the previous year).