The two-hour marathon barrier has finally fallen, with Kenyan Sabastian Sawe shining today in London in a race that yielded several records and high-value marks. The London Marathon, held in ideal heat, humidity, and windless conditions, goes down in history as the fastest ever, not only due to Sawe’s 1:59.30 record but also because of new national records for Ethiopia (Yomif Kejelcha, in his debut) and Uganda (Jacob Kiplimo), both of which were below the previous world record.
The women’s race was also of great value, allowing Ethiopian Tigst Assefa to improve her world record for races where men and women run separately—in London, the start is given with a half-hour interval on the same course.
Sawe, 30, won the iconic 42.195-kilometer London race for the second consecutive time, following his triumph in 2025, the year in which he also won the Berlin Marathon. The athlete, whose previous best time was 2:02.05, shaved one minute and five seconds off the previous world record (2:00.35, in Chicago, United States), held by fellow Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum since October 8, 2023, less than a year before his death in a car accident.
Kiptum’s record was also beaten today by Kejelcha (1:59.41), who finished second, and by Kiplimo (2:00.28), who finished third, the athlete who set the world half-marathon record of 57:20 minutes in Lisbon on March 8.
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Strictly speaking, runners had already clocked under two hours, but under circumstances that prevented the recognition of the mark—in 2019 in Vienna, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, a two-time Olympic champion, achieved 1:59.41, but with the aid of no less than 41 ‘pacers,’ which is completely irregular.
While Kenyan middle- and long-distance athletics have been plagued by successive doping cases, Sawe stands out as a positive exception—on his own initiative, he has been subjected to dozens of unannounced, out-of-competition tests, with no issues ever detected.
Kipchoge, his mentor, is not surprised by the evolution, which he had already anticipated, and Kenyan President William Ruto says the mark resizes “the limits of human endurance,” in a “historic triumph, achieved with extraordinary determination.”
Sawe’s first words after crossing the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace confirmed the humble but very confident athlete: “I feel good, I am so happy. It is a memorable day for me,” he told BBC microphones.
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In the women’s race, 29-year-old Ethiopian Tigst Assefa also celebrated again in London, improving once again the world record for the distance in exclusively female competitions to 2:15.41 hours, nine seconds faster than the previous mark, leaving Kenyans Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei in second and third positions, 14 and 16 seconds behind, respectively.
However, the women’s course record for the London Marathon remains the time that was a world record for 16 years, achieved by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 (2:15.25), when the race was held simultaneously with the men’s race. As for the absolute women’s world record for the distance, it remains at 2:09.57, set by Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich in 2024 in Chicago.
A year later, she was suspended for doping due to the consumption of a diuretic, which she admitted to, but that mark was not annulled. Portuguese runners António Pinto (1992, 1997, and 2000) and Rosa Mota (1991) are among the winners of the London Marathon, which is part of the ‘majors’ circuit, along with Tokyo, Boston, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, and New York.
