Sabastian Sawe runs fastest-ever marathon as world record obliterated in London
Sabastian Sawe made history on Sunday morning after becoming the first man in history to complete a marathon under two hours.
Having set his sights on the achievement beforehand, the Kenyan stormed to victory at the 2026 London Marathon and completed the 26.2 mile course with an incredible world-record time of 1:59:30.
He celebrated by holding up an Adidas trainer with the time written in pen, having become the first athlete to achieve sub two hours in race conditions.
The previous men's marathon world record record was 2:00:35, held by the late Kelvin Kiptum. But Sawe blitzed through it while winning the marathon ahead of fellow elites Yomif Kejelcha Jacob Kiplimo.
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His time is also 10 seconds better than the unofficial time recorded by Eliud Kipchoge's unofficial record in 2019. Kipchoge's victory came in an Ineos event that was not an open competition and rotating pacemakers were deployed.
Kejelcha also finished under two hours with an official time of 1:59:40, while Kiplimo came in at 2:00.28.
Remarkably, this was only Sawe's fifth ever career marathon and he smashed his previous London time of 2:02:27 last year.
"This is history in the making," BBC commentator Steve Cram said while covering the special moment.
"Nobody has ever done this. They said it couldn’t be done. A historic performance. Just Incredible. I have never seen anything like that. That you would say is unbelievable, but we have just seen it. I’m lost for words, genuinely.
"There are things that happen in sport where you want to be there to see it. The world will never be the same again."
Sawe's story is nothing short of incredible. He was hired as a pacemaker at the Seville half marathon in 2022 but instead of just setting the pace, he went on to win with a time of 59 minutes and two seconds.
After the stunning achievement, Sawe showed his class by praising the crowds for the support they gave him throughout the London course, which finishes at the Mall after runners pass Buckingham Palace.
"First of all I want to thank the crowds," Sawe told Gabby Logan in an interview for the BBC.
"They help a lot. They helped a lot. You feel so happy and strong and pushing. What comes for me today is not for me alone but all of us in London."
Josh Lawless