Sawe Breaks 2-Hour Marathon Barrier in London

• By Thetripurapost Desk, London
• Apr 27, 2026
• 55

Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe delivered a stunning performance at the London Marathon, clocking an impressive 1:59:30 over the 42.195 km distance. With this run, Sawe became the first athlete to break the two-hour barrier in an official marathon, setting a new world record.

The previous record was held by Kelvin Kiptum, who had recorded 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon 2023. Sawe bettered that mark by 65 seconds and also went faster than Eliud Kipchoge’s unofficial 1:59:40 achieved during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in 2019.

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, also going under the two-hour mark, while Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo secured third place with a time of 2:00:28.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa broke her own world record, finishing in 2:15:41 and improving on her previous mark of 2:15:50 set last year. Kenya’s Helen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei finished second and third respectively.

Technology also played a key role, with Sawe and Kejelcha wearing Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 shoes. Priced at around ₹41,700 ($500), the 97-gram shoes are designed to be 30% lighter and improve running efficiency by 1.6%.

This marked the fourth marathon victory for the 31-year-old Sawe, who has remained unbeaten in the distance so far. Originally competing in 1500m and 5000m events, he later transitioned to cross-country and half marathons. At London, he completed the first half in 60:29 and surged through the second half in 59:01 to seal a historic win.