Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour mark for the first time in history yesterday in winning the London Marathon.
Defending champion Sawe was locked in a tight battle with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in the closing stages but surged clear to cross the line in one hour, 59 minutes, 30 seconds.
Kejelcha, running his first-ever marathon, also dipped under two hours, with a time of 1:59:41, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplomo third in 2:00:28.
"We started the race well and at the end of the race, I was feeling strong," said Sawe. "Finally reaching the finishing line, I saw the time, and I was so excited to see I had run a world record today.
"I was very prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me, and that's why I prepared well for it."
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in October 2019, becoming the first person in recorded history to do a sub-two-hour marathon.
But the time was not ratified as a world record because he ran with specialized shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
