Sabastian Sawe

Breakthrough

In January 2022, Sawe finished his first half marathon in Seville in 59:02, despite initially starting the race as a pacemaker.^[2] He won the run and improved on the previous course record of 1:00:44. His time was the sixth fastest half marathon time ever with David Ngure (Kenya) finishing second in a time of 1:00:22. In March 2022, Sawe set a course record at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon in a time of 58:02 (a non-record eligible course).^[6] He set a then half marathon best of 58:58 from his win at the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon.^[7]

In September 2022, Sawe set a Kenyan national record in the one hour run at the Memorial Van Damme with a distance of 21,250 metres, narrowly missing the world record.^[8] Sawe finished seventh in the senior men's race at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships.^[9][10] In December 2023, he won the 15 kilometres road race Montferland Run held in 's-Heerenberg in the Netherlands with a time of 42:35.^[11] In September 2024, Sawe won the Copenhagen Half Marathon in a new personal best of 58:05.^[12]

2024 Valencia Marathon debut

On 1 December 2024, he won the Valencia Marathon in a world-leading time of 2:02:05.^[13] This time brought him to the 5th place on the Marathon times all time list and with the course record of 2:01:48 by Sisay Lemma intact. His time was 12 seconds slower than Kelvin Kiptum's fastest ever Marathon debut. Deresa Geleta (Ethopia) came in second with 2:02:38.

On 27 April 2025, Sawe won the London Marathon in a leading time of 2:02:27.^[14] This was followed in September 2025 with a win at the Berlin Marathon, with a time of 2:02:16.^[15] In response to doping violations from other Kenyan athletes, Sawe underwent an unprecedented 25 out-of-competition drug tests from the AIU to combat suspicions of doping in the buildup to winning the Berlin Marathon.^[16]

London Marathon world record

On 26 April 2026, Sawe became the first person to complete a competitive marathon in under two hours when he won the London Marathon in 1:59:30 and set a world record.^[17][18] A previous sub-two-hour run by Eliud Kipchoge in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in 2019 was not recognised as a valid record as it was not achieved under race conditions.^[19] Sawe's run was also ten seconds faster than Kipchoge's and 65 seconds faster than the previous official record held by the late Kelvin Kiptum.^[20] Sawe's former personal best was set in his debut Marathon in Valencia in 2024 with a time of 2:02:05.^[21] In his first Marathon, Yomif Kejelcha of Ethopia finished second in a time of 1:59:41.

The women's former world record holder Paula Radcliffe stated: "We've witnessed history being made, but it is more than that. It is an iconic barrier that there has been this discussion over for a long time about whether it is even possible."^[3] Kipchoge stated: "My deepest congratulations to both Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha. Breaking the sub-two-hour barrier in the marathon has long been a dream for runners everywhere, and today you've made that dream come true."^[3]

The race saw 800,000 spectators. The last time a men's world record was set in London was in 2002. Kelvin Kiptum formerly set the course record with 2:01:25. Sawe ran an of average 200 km a week in the 6 weeks leading up to the run. Sawe's race shoes were a lightweight model of super shoe, the Pro Evo 3 from Adidas.^[22] The prize money for Sawe's win was £740,000.^[23]