Kenya’s Sawe is world’s first man to run a sub-two-hour marathon in London | Athletics | UNW

Sabastian Sawe breaks Kelvin Kiptum’s previous world record of 2:00:35; Ethiopia’s Assefa retains her women’s crown.

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe has become the first man to run a marathon in under two hours, winning the London Marathon with a time of one hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds.

Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her London Marathon crown, breaking her own women’s-only world record in the race on Sunday.

However, it was Sawe who stole the limelight in a huge moment in sporting history as he broke the two-hour barrier, shattering the world record previously held by his late compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who set a time of 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023.

The 31-year-old, who has never lost a marathon, smashed the world record by 65 seconds.

Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia stayed on Sawe’s heels over much of the 42.195-kilometre course before fading down the final stretch to take second in his marathon debut with 1:59:41, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda took the bronze in 2:02:28.

All three finished under Kiptum’s previous record time.

“We started the race well, and at the end of the race, I was feeling strong,” said Sawe.

“Finally, reaching the finishing line, I saw the time, and I was so excited to see I had run a world record today.

“I was very prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me, and that’s why I prepared well for it.”

Kiptum died in a car crash in 2024 in Kenya when he was just 24 years old.

Meanwhile, Assefa retained her place as the winner in the women’s race.

The reigning Olympic and world silver medallist was locked in a three-way tussle with Kenyan pair Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei but pulled away in the closing stages to cross the line in a time of 2hr 15min 41sec.

That time beat her previous best, set on the same course last year, by nine seconds.

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 Ruth Chepngetich, who clocked 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2024.

Chepngetich picked up a three-year doping ban in October 2025, although achievements and records pre-dating the March 2025 sample stand.

Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won the men’s and women’s wheelchair events. Hug won for the sixth consecutive year and eighth overall, while Debrunner outsprinted American Tatyana McFadden to the finish for her third win in a row in London.