5 min readNew DelhiApr 27, 2026 07:08 AM IST
First published on: Apr 26, 2026 at 11:59 PM IST
Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe (pronounced: saw-way) became the fastest marathon runner in history, the first human to break the two-hour barrier in the 42.195 kilometer race at the London Marathon on Sunday. His feat clicked at 1:59.30 will rank alongside man on the moon, conquering Mount Everest and the Bannister Mile. His name will be on the shortlist of greatest athletes ever.
He may also be in the running to be the cleanest athlete in the world.
Kenya, a power house of distance running, has earned a bad reputation because of the number of dope cheats. The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent anti-doping watchdog sanctioned nearly 150 Kenyan athletes since its inception nearly a decade ago. Or in other words one-third of the total athletes caught for doping violations by the AIU.
Sawe wanted to remove doubts if and when he broke the world record. So his team approached the AIU, asking to be tested as many times as possible. By all accounts, he was tested 25 times before last year’s Berlin Marathon, known to have the fastest course in the world, and continues to be tested. Sawe had the late Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot’s world record of 2 hours and 35 seconds on his mind when he was running in Berlin last year, but unusual heat in September had scuppered those plans.
But the 31-year-old with the moniker ‘silent assassin’ for his understated demeanour, yet possessing the talent to outrun the best, bettered Kiptum’s world record by 65 seconds when he crossed the finish line in 1 hour, fifty nine minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday.
What was truly remarkable was that Sawe’s time was faster than Eluid Kipchoge’s 1:59.40 in Vienna seven years ago, which isn’t in the record books for not being a competitive race but one programmed for him to break the two-hour barrier with 42 pace-makers assisting him in turns.
“I am feeling good. I am so happy. It is a day to remember,” Sawe said. A red-letter day for the marathon, no doubt.
The London Marathon will go down in history as the fastest race-ever. Second-place finisher and debutant Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia became the second man to run a sub-two hour marathon with a time of 1:59.41, and Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda clocked 2:00:28 to complete a podium of runners who finished the course faster than the previous world record. Sawe improved his personal best in the marathon by two minutes and thirty five seconds.
London was pleasant on Sunday, with the temperature staying below 20 degrees Centigrade during the day and around 12 degrees at the start of the race. But Berlin, where eight of the nine previous men’s marathon world records were set since 2003, was expected to be the city where history could be made owing to its flat course.
Focus on shoes
A sub-two hour marathon has been a fixation for some of the best runners since the turn of the century and big corporates and shoe companies have invested in trying to push the limits of human endurance. The first time Kipchoge tried to complete a marathon in less than two hours, the curated run, with dedicated pace makers was called Nike Breaking 2 project. He had fallen short by 26 seconds. Kipchoge’s second attempt which was successful was called the Ineos 1:59 Challenge, sponsored by the petro-chemical company.
Sabastian Sawe from Kenya crosses the finish line to win the men’s race at the London Marathon in London, Sunday, April 26, 2026.(AP Photo)
Kipchoge wore Nike shoes, dubbed as super shoes.
Sawe, like Kipchoge, and some of the other top athletes over the years, wore shoes with cutting edge running tech. Adidas said that both Sawe and Kejelcha wore the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a shoe weighing just 97 grams which is 30 percent lighter and ‘improves running economy by 1.6 percent’ compared to the previous version of the Adizero range.
The shoes, which costs $500, had a limited release in the market on April 23, three days before the London marathon. Sawe acknowledged the role of ‘innovation’ in his record breaking run. Hours after the London Marathon he was quoted on the Adidas website as saying: “To break the world record is something I have dreamed about for a long time, and to achieve it means so much to me and to the sport of running. It reflects the hard work behind the scenes, the support of my team, and the role of innovation in helping me push beyond limits. I’m honoured to be part of a new chapter for the sport.”
But even the advantage provided by one of the best running shoes in the world, should take nothing away from Sawe’s feat. He, like Bannister, many decades ago, has taken distance running to new heights.
Sabastian Sawe from Kenya celebrates winning the men's race at the London Marathon in London, Sunday, April 26, 2026.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Sabastian Sawe from Kenya crosses the finish line to win the men’s race at the London Marathon in London, Sunday, April 26, 2026.(AP Photo)
Share
