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

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe has become the first man to run a marathon in under two hours, winning the London Marathon in 1:59:30.

Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her London Marathon crown on Sunday, breaking her own world record.

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 for most of the 42.195km course before fading down the final stretch to take second in his marathon debut with 1:59:41, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda won 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 Kenya in 2024, aged 24 years.

In the women’s race, Assefa retained her winning place.

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 2:15:41.

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 was given a three-year doping ban last October, 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.