Sabastian Sawe shattered the two-hour barrier in a competitive marathon for the first time in history, winning the London Marathon in 1:59:30. The 30-year-old Kenyan bettered Kelvin Kiptum's previous world record of 2:00:35 set in 2023 by 65 seconds. Sawe passed the halfway mark in 1:00:29, already on world record pace, and increased his speed in the second half to finish well under two hours. His surge came before the final 10km, with only Ethiopian debutant Yomif Kejelcha able to briefly respond. Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, making him the second man ever to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a sanctioned race. The performance marks the first time two men have broken the two-hour mark in the same race. Eliud Kipchoge ran a sub-two-hour marathon in 2019, but that attempt was not eligible for record purposes due to controlled pacing and course conditions.
Sawe's sub-two-hour run in a competitive race redefines what was considered physically possible in marathon running. For the first time, the barrier has been broken under official conditions, with a second runner also finishing under two hours. Kejelcha's presence in the record books as a debutant adds unexpected weight to the depth of talent emerging. No Nigerian or African athlete outside Kenya and Ethiopia featured in the result.
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