 Sawe running the 2025 Berlin Marathon | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Sabastian Kimaru Sawe |
| Born | 16 March 1995 [1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Long-distance running |
| Team | Adidas |
Medal record | |
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). [2] He set a then half marathon best of 58:58 from his win at the 2022 Bahrain Royal Night Half Marathon. [3]
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. [4]
He finished seventh in the senior men's race at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships. [5] [6]
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. [7]
In September 2024, he won the Copenhagen Half Marathon in a new personal best of 58:05. [8]
On 1 December 2024, he won the Valencia Marathon in a world-leading time of 2:02:05. [9]
On 27 April 2025 he won the London Marathon in a leading time of 2:02:27. [10]
This was followed in September 2025 with a win at the Berlin Marathon, with a time of 2:02:16. [11] 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. [12]
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. [13] 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. [14] Sawe's run was also ten seconds faster than Kipchoge's and 65 seconds faster than the previous official record held by Kelvin Kiptum. [15]
Media related to Sabastian Sawe at Wikimedia Commons
