Sabastian Sawe ran 1:59:30 to win the London Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first man to officially run a marathon in under two hours. Sawe, 31, shaved 65 seconds off Kelvin Kiptum’s previous world record of 2:00:35 and remains unbeaten over the distance. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha was second in his marathon debut in 1:59:41 and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo took bronze in 2:02:28. Tigst Assefa won the women’s race in 2:15:41; Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won the wheelchair events.
Sawe shatters the two-hour barrier Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line at the London Marathon in 1:59:30, resetting the marathon benchmark and erasing Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 record set in Chicago. Sawe has never lost a marathon in his career, and Sunday’s run was the clearest proof of that form. How the race unfolded - The leading pack moved through the first half at a tempo that signaled a record attempt. - Sawe and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha exchanged the lead at different stages; Kejelcha matched the sub-two-hour pace until the closing stretch and finished second in 1:59:41 (his marathon debut). - Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo closed out the podium in 2:02:28. All three men finished faster than Kiptum’s previous world record, underlining how quickly top times are falling in elite men’s marathoning. Women’s race and wheelchair events - Tigst Assefa successfully defended her London title, finishing in 2:15:41 and improving her previous London best by nine seconds. - Kenya’s Hellen Obiri took second in a personal best of 2:15:53, narrowly ahead of Joyciline Jepkosgei. - Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race — extending his dominance on the course — while Catherine Debrunner took the women’s wheelchair title, outsprinting Tatyana McFadden. Records, rulings and context - Sawe’s 1:59:30 replaces Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 as the recognized world record. Kiptum, also Kenyan, set the earlier mark in Chicago and later died in a car crash in Kenya. - Women’s world records remain separated between mixed-race and women-only performances.Related Articles
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“Finally, reaching the finishing line, I saw the time, and I was so excited to see I had run a world record today,” Sawe said. His 1:59:30 resets the benchmark for elite marathon running.
This article was created with AI assistance.
