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Key Points
- Sawe suggested in the lead-up to the race that a course record or even a world record was in his sights.
- The sub‑two‑hour marathon has been one of sport’s biggest obsessions for years.
In a groundbreaking moment for athletics, Sabastian Sawe became the first runner to complete a marathon in under two hours as Tigst Assefa shattered her own women’s-only world record at the London Marathon.
Sawe, hailing from Kenya, had promised an extraordinary performance and lived up to expectations with a remarkable time of 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds, marking an unforgettable race.
In an incredible feat, the top three male runners all surpassed the previous world record of 2:00:35, which had been set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023.
Sawe, the reigning champion of the London Marathon, engaged in an intense showdown with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in the final moments, ultimately breaking away to secure his victory.
Kejelcha, competing in his first marathon, achieved an impressive debut time of 1:59:41—the fastest debut marathon on record—while Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo secured third place with a time of 2:00:28.
A delighted Sawe said he went into the race, run in warm spring weather, believing he could break the two-hour mark.
“I’ve made history today in London, and for the new generation (it shows) to run a record is possible,” said the 31-year-old, whose winning time was scribbled on his shoe.
“It depends on the preparation you had and the discipline you had, so for me I think I have shown them that nothing is impossible.
“Everything is possible with a matter of time.”
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in October 2019, becoming the first person in recorded history to complete a sub-two-hour marathon.
But the time was not ratified as a world record because he ran with specialised shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.
Sawe, wearing Adidas’s new Pro Evo 3 supershoe, which weighs less than 100 grams, suggested in the lead-up to Sunday’s race that a course record or even a world record was in his sights.
He made his move with one mile remaining, finally breaking clear of Kejelcha, who was also wearing the new Adidas shoes, and pressing on alone, taking 65 seconds off the previous world record.
Kipchoge praised his compatriot, posting on social media that it was a “historical day for marathon running”.
“Seeing two athletes break the magical two-hour barrier at the London Marathon is the proof that we are just at the beginning of what is possible when talent, progress and an unwavering belief in the human potential come together,” he said.
Kenya’s President William Ruto said Sawe had “redrawn the limits of human endurance”.
“This is more than a win,” he tweeted. “It is a defining moment. Your triumph places you firmly among the greats of global athletics and reaffirms Kenya as an enduring force at the pinnacle of distance running.”
The fabled sub-two-hour mark
Conditions were close to ideal for fast running, with mid‑teen temperatures in London and winds light to create the platform for the record times.
The sub‑two‑hour marathon has been one of sport’s biggest obsessions for years, pursued through a series of highly engineered projects aimed at redefining human limits.
Nike’s Breaking2 attempt at Monza in 2017 just fell short, though Kipchoge ran under two hours in INEOS’s 1:59 Challenge two years later. Yet those efforts fell outside the sport’s official record books.
Sawe’s historic race differed in its setting and its stakes, achieved in open competition on one of the world’s biggest stages, turning an idea long tested in controlled conditions into a landmark moment.
“Nobody thought that a sub-two-hour marathon under World Athletics conditions would be done in their lifetime,” London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher told the BBC. “I never thought about it in my lifetime, and today we had two men do it. This is an unbelievable day for sport.”
The remarkable feat comes despite the fact that Sawe was injured throughout the autumn and started training properly only in January before realising in February that he was going to be fit enough to defend his title in London.
Assefa outpaces Obiri
In the women’s race, reigning Olympic and world silver medallist Assefa was locked in a three-way tussle with Kenyan pair Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei, but surged away in the closing stages to cross the line in a time of 2:15:41.
That time beat by nine seconds the Ethiopian’s previous best, set on the same course last year.
“I’m so happy to win again,” said the 29-year-old, who also wore the new footwear. “To repeat my victory from last year means even more. The happiness I feel is just swelling up inside me.
“It was one of my plans really coming into this competition to break my own world record from last year’s race. So to do that has brought me a lot of satisfaction.”
Obiri, a two-time former world 5,000m champion who won marathon bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, came in second in a personal best of 2:15:53.
She finished just two-hundredths of a second ahead of compatriot Jepkosgei.
The world record set in a mixed race where female athletes benefit from male pacemakers was by Kenya’s now-banned Ruth Chepngetich, who clocked 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2024.
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