Sawe Smashes World Record as Two Men Break Two Hours in London

What happened

The two-hour barrier is gone. Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the 2026 London Marathon in 1:59:30, becoming the first man ever to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon and slicing 65 seconds off the world record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum at Chicago in 2023. Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha also dipped under in 1:59:41. Tigst Assefa defended her women's crown with a women-only world record of 2:15:41.

The men's race — two under two

Sawe came into London as the defending champion, having won here in 2025 with 2:02:27. Twelve months on, he ran a different race entirely. He went with the lead pack through halfway and was still in contact with Kejelcha and Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo deep into the second half before pulling clear in the final kilometres to cross The Mall in 1:59:30.

Kejelcha, the Ethiopian who has built a career around the 10,000m and half marathon world records, finished second in 1:59:41 — the second-fastest marathon ever run, and the second sub-two-hour performance of the day. Kiplimo, in only his second marathon, finished third in 2:00:28 — also inside the previous world record but outside the podium for the barrier.

Kenya's Amos Kipruto was fourth in 2:01:39 and Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola fifth in 2:02:59.

The women's race — three inside 2:16

Tigst Assefa retained her London title in 2:15:41, lowering the women-only world record she set on the same course last year by ten seconds. The depth behind her was startling: Kenya's Hellen Obiri finished second in 2:15:53 and Joyciline Jepkosgei third in 2:15:55 — three women inside 2:16 in the same race, separated by 14 seconds at the line.

Ethiopia's Degitu Azimeraw was fourth in 2:19:53 and Kenya's Catherine Amanang'ole fifth in 2:21:20.

The bigger picture

Eliud Kipchoge's 1:59:40 at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna in 2019 stood for nearly seven years as the only sub-two-hour marathon by a human, but that run — paced by a rotating squad and a car-mounted laser — was never eligible for record purposes. Sawe's 1:59:30 is the first sub-two delivered inside the rules of the sport: open field, legal pacing, World Athletics-certified course.

It is also the second world record set on the streets of London in the same morning. Assefa's 2:15:41 is now the fastest a woman has ever run in a women-only race — a separate category from the mixed-race world record of 2:09:56 set by Ruth Chepngetich in Chicago in 2024.

For Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda — three men inside 2:00:30, three women inside 2:16 — this was a Sunday that rewrote the boundaries of what the marathon is. Whether 1:59:30 is a ceiling or a doorway is now the only question.