Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe breaks marathon world record in London

Sabastian Sawe blazed a trail to history in under 2 hours on Sunday at the London Marathon.

The Kenyan runner won the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds, shattering the previous men’s world record by 65 seconds.

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“What comes today is not for me alone, but for all of us today in London,” Sawe said.

The long-distance runner is a decorated athlete who picked up wins in the 2025 London Marathon and 2025 Berlin Marathon. He won the 2023 Riga half-marathon and the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst.

He added that Sunday was a “day to remember,” and credited the large crowds in London with helping him give the extra oomph he needed to keep up the world-record pace.

“I think they help a lot,” he said, “because if it was not for them you don’t feel like you are so loved … with them calling, you feel so happy and strong.”

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha also finished the course in under 2 hours but just 11 seconds behind Sawe. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo finished behind them in 2 hours and 28 seconds.

The two-hour barrier had been broken previously, though unofficially.

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge completed the feat in Vienna in 2019 in a race called the “1.59 Challenge.” The event was arranged by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe in favorite conditions on a 6-mile circuit and used rotating pacemakers.

Kipchoge’s time was at 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds.

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“The goalposts have literally just moved for marathon running,” former London Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe said on BBC’s broadcast.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.