1:59:30! Kenya's Sabastian Sawe runs into history; becomes first person to officially break two-hour marathon barrier

For the first time in marathon history, the two-hour barrier has officially been broken.

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe became the first person to officially break the two-hour barrier in a marathon after winning the London Marathon on Sunday in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

It was a major moment in athletics as Sawe broke the men’s world record by 65 seconds.

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha also finished under two hours, crossing the line in 1:59:41 in his first-ever marathon. Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28, which was also faster than the previous world record.



The earlier men’s world record was 2:00:35, set by Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023.

All three runners on Sunday finished faster than that mark.

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge had run 1:59:40 in October 2019 and became the first person in recorded history to complete a marathon in under two hours.

However, that time was not accepted as a world record because he used specialised shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.

Sawe, who wore Adidas’ new Pro Evo 3 supershoe weighing less than 100 grams, had said before the race that he was targeting a course record or even a world record.

He was part of a lead group of six runners that crossed the halfway mark in 1:00:29.

Later, Sawe and Kejelcha moved ahead of the rest of the field and stayed together until the final stages, before the Kenyan made his move and pulled away to win.

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