Sabastian Sawe, 29, became the first athlete to run a marathon in less than two hours on Sunday in London. The Kenyan retained his title ahead of Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha and Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo.
Sawe crossed the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace after 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds and shattered the old world record set by Kelvin Kiptum of 2 hours, 1 minute and 25 seconds in April 2023, less than a year before he died in a car crash.
In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa retained her title by improving the world record for an all-women’s race that she set last year.
The 29-year-old athlete sprinted in the final meters to beat Kenyans Joyciline Jepkosgei and Hellen Obiri, with whom she did the entire race, and crossed the line after 2 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds of effort, nine seconds less than the previous mark.
