Few believed it was possible, but Sebastian Sawe has accomplished the extraordinary feat at the London Marathon.
In the shadow of Buckingham Palace, the new marathon king, Sebastian Sawe, gave his all. He pushed, he surged towards the finish line, he ran with everything he had – and made history with his unbelievable, legendary run in London. The Kenyan completed the 42.195 kilometers in just 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds. Sawe is the first runner ever to break the two-hour marathon barrier officially in London.
«I am so happy. This is an unforgettable day for me,» said Sawe, who spread his arms wide at the finish line, made the victory sign with both hands, and then crossed himself. «When I saw the time, I was totally thrilled.»
Sawe, who also triumphed in Berlin in September (2:02:16), set a blistering pace from the start. However, the 29-year-old did not falter; instead, wearing his high-tech shoes weighing less than 100 grams, he even accelerated in the final kilometers. A tailwind along the Thames also propelled him forward. In the end, Sawe improved his compatriot Kelvin Kiptum’s old world record from 2023 by an astonishing 65 seconds.
Kipchoge Broke the Barrier Only Under Laboratory Conditions
Behind the defending champion, second-place finisher Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia) also finished under two hours in his marathon debut, clocking 1:59:41 in what was the fastest race in history. Third-place finisher Jacob Kiplimo (2:00:28/Uganda) also surpassed Kiptum’s previous world record time.
Nearly seven years ago, running icon Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a marathon under two hours in Vienna with a time of 1:59:40. However, that event took place under laboratory conditions, meaning the time was not officially recognized. 2388 days later, Sawe has now achieved this in a completely regulation race.
«As the finish line approached, I still felt strong,» said Sawe, who later proudly posed for cameras with his shoe, on which his time was scribbled. «I want to thank the audience; they helped me a lot.» The fans «drove me on even more.»
Tigst Assefa Wins Women’s Race with a Strong Finish
A look at the intermediate times reveals that Sawe actually got faster in the final kilometers. While his pace was around 21 km/h for most of the race, he ignited his turbo from kilometer 30 onwards. In the end, Sawe’s average pace exceeded 22 km/h.
In Sawe’s unleashed performance, Amanal Petros had no chance of improving his German record as intended. The silver medalist from Tokyo lost pace after 25 kilometers and finished in 15th place with a time of 2:08:31.
In the women’s race, after the withdrawals of Olympic champions Sifan Hassan (Netherlands/2024) and Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya/2021), Tigst Assefa repeated her triumph from the previous year with a strong finish. With her time of 2:15:41, the Ethiopian also improved her record for a women-only race by nine seconds.