LONDON — Sabastian Sawe of Kenya has become the first person to break the fabled 2-hour barrier in the marathon.
In a huge moment in sports history, Sawe smashed the men's world record by 65 seconds in winning the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday.
The second-place finisher, Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, also dipped under 2 hours by crossing the line in 1:59:41 in his first-ever marathon, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda broke the previous world-record time — set by Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023 — by seven seconds in finishing in 2:00:28.
The 29-year-old Sawe, who retained his title in London, thanked the huge crowds who lined the streets of the British capital to cheer him on.
"What comes today is not for me alone," Sawe said, "but for all of us today in London."
In an exhilarating sight, Sawe ran the second half of the marathon in 59 minutes and 1 second, pulling clear with Kejelcha after 30 kilometers and then making his solo break in the final two kilometers as he sprinted along the finish on The Mall.
A record was also set in the women's race, with Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa pulling away with about 500 meters remaining to win in 2:15:41 to defend the title in the fastest-ever time in a women's-only marathon.
However, it was 16 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race.
In the wheelchair races, there was a Swiss double with Marcel Hug powering to a sixth straight men's title – and eighth in total – and Catherine Debrunner beating Tatyana McFadden in a close finish to defend the title.
Copyright 2026 NPR
