History was made on the streets of London this morning as Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run a sub-two-hour race.
The Kenyan, 29, won this race 12 months ago and successfully defended his title in some style, posting a new world record time of one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds.
His incredible run wiped 35 seconds off the previous record held set by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
Sawe was already on world record pace when he crossed the halfway mark in 1:00.29 but was incredibly able to record a negative split by accelerating in the second half of the race.
The Kenyan star then made a late surge for home 10km out from the finish line, with debutant Yomif Kejelcha trying his best to stay with him. In fact, Kejelcha ended up becoming the second man to run under two hours, finishing second in 1:59.41.
But the day belonged to Sawe, who told the BBC post-race: ‘I saw the time and I was so excited.
‘First of all I want to thank the crowds. They helped a lot. You feel so happy and strong and pushing.
‘What comes for me today is not for me alone but all of us in London.’
Former British middle-distance world champion Steve Cram paid tribute to Sawe’s herculean effort on commentary.
‘There are things that happen in sport where you want to be there to see it,’ said Cram.
‘Roger Bannister the first ever four-minute mile. Those who were there on that day still tell that story today.
‘We did say it was a day for records. The world will never be the same again.’
