Sabastian Sawe

Sabastian Kimaru Sawe (born 16 March 1995) is a Kenyan long-distance runner and the current world record holder in the marathon. He is the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in an official race, winning the 2026 London Marathon in 1:59:30, beating the previous record by over a minute.

In March 2022, Sawe set a course record at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon in a time of 58:02 (a non-record eligible course). He set a then half marathon best of 58:58 from his win at the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon.

In September 2022, Sawe set a Kenyan national record in the one hour run at the Memorial Van Damme with a distance of 21,250 metres, narrowly missing the world record.

He finished seventh in the senior men's race at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships.

In December 2023, he won the 15 kilometres road race Montferland Run held in 's-Heerenberg in the Netherlands with a time of 42:35.

In September 2024, he won the Copenhagen Half Marathon in a new personal best of 58:05.

On 1 December 2024, he won the Valencia Marathon in a world-leading time of 2:02:05.

On 27 April 2025 he won the London Marathon in a leading time of 2:02:27.

This was followed in September 2025 with a win at the Berlin Marathon, with a time of 2:02:16. In response to doping violations from other Kenyan athletes, Sawe underwent an unprecedented 25 out-of-competition drug tests from the AIU to combat suspicions of doping in the buildup to winning the Berlin Marathon.

On 26 April 2026, Sawe became the first person to complete a competitive marathon in under two hours when he won the London Marathon in 1:59:30. A previous sub-two-hour run by Eliud Kipchoge in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in 2019 was not recognised as a valid record as it was not achieved under race conditions. Sawe's run was also ten seconds faster than Kipchoge's and 65 seconds faster than the previous official record held by Kelvin Kiptum.

Winner

• Valencia Marathon (2024) – 2:02:05
• London Marathon (2025) – 2:02:27
• Berlin Marathon (2025) – 2:02:16
• London Marathon (2026) – 1:59:30

Personal bests

• 10,000 metres – 27:09.46 (Maia 2022)
• 15,000 metres – 41:51.64 (Brussels 2022) WB
• 20,000 metres – 56:20.55 (Brussels 2022) AB
• One hour run – 21,250 metres (Brussels 2022) NR
• 10K run – 26:49 (Herzogenaurach 2023), 5th fastest athlete of all time
• 15K run – 42:35 ('s-Heerenberg 2023)
• Half marathon – 58:05 (Copenhagen 2024)
• Marathon – 1:59:30 (London 2026) WR

Circuit wins

• Diamond League

  • 2022: Brussels Memorial Van Damme (One hour run)

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• Sabastian Sawe at World Athletics