Sawe Makes London Marathon History

TDT | Manama

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Sabastian Sawe produced one of the most astonishing performances in marathon history by breaking the iconic sub-twohour barrier in at the London Marathon, stopping the clock at 1:59:30.

The Kenyan’s rise has been marked by surprise breakthroughs, from winning a half marathon debut as a pacemaker to running the second-fastest marathon debut ever in Valencia in 2024.

Yet even those performances offered little warning of what would unfold in London.

Despite injury setbacks in the build-up, Sawe delivered a perfectly paced race on a fast April morning, surging late to shatter Kelvin Kiptum’s previous world record by 65 seconds. Remarkably, he was not even targeting the record, later admitting it “was not in my mind” before adding that even 1:58 could be possible.

Born in Kenya’s Rift Valley and guided by coach Claudio Berardelli, Sawe’s development has been rapid since switching focus from track to marathon running. His success has also highlighted advances in training, nutrition and footwear technology.

His achievement was part of a historic race, with multiple athletes going under two hours for the first time. As legends like Eliud Kipchoge acknowledged, it marks a new era in what is possible in marathon running.