Record-breaking Sabastian Sawe becomes first man to run marathon under two hours

Sabastian Sawe celebrates his world record time of 1:59:30 (AP)

Sabastian Sawe made history on the streets of London with the first official marathon under two hours in the fastest race ever run over the 26.2-mile distance.

Sawe, the 29-year-old Kenyan, shattered the previous world record held by the late Kelvin Kiptum with an astonishing run of 1:59:30 that shaved 65 seconds off the previous best set by his compatriot in Chicago in 2023.

The two-hour barrier was long considered unbreakable in the marathon, but the great Eliud Kipchoge achieved a time of 1:59:40 under controlled conditions and with rotating pacemakers in 2019.

(Getty)

Sawe’s historic time was made even more incredible by second-placed Yomif Kejelcha, the marathon debutant from Ethiopia, also breaking the two-hour mark with a time of 1:59:41.

And Jacob Kiplimo, the 25-year-old Ugandan, would have also broken Kiptum’s previous best, but his time of 02:00:28 was only good enough for third. All three men also went under the late Kiptum’s previous London course record of 2:01:25.

Sawe’s previous best of 2:02:05 was achieved in winning the London Marathon last year, and he obliterated his personal best by two minutes of 25 seconds as he defended his London title.