History man
PHOTOGRAPH/IAN WALTON/AP
Sabastian Sawe from Kenya crosses the finish line,
winning the men’s race and shattering the twohour barrier
27 Apr 2026 - The Guardian
Sean Ingle @The Mall
Sean Ingle @The Mall
The greatest sporting feat of the century?
The London Marathon’s organisers have hailed the “greatest day” in the event’s 45-year history after huge crowds watched Sabastian Sawe become the first man to shatter the two-hour barrier in an official race, and a world record tally of more than 60,000 runners started the event.
By 6.30pm last night, organisers were also hopeful of breaking the record number of 59,226 finishers, set by the New York marathon last year, although they said it could go right down to the deadline of 11.59pm.
Hugh Brasher, the race director, said an estimated 800,000 people had watched an epic men’s race, in which Sawe and the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha both ran under two hours, with times of 1:59:30 and 1:59:41 respectively.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa set a women’s-only world record, for races involving only female pace setters at 2:15:41, although it was five minutes behind the women’s world record.
“It is, without doubt, the greatest day in London Marathon history,” said Brasher. “You work for years and years and years and then sometimes the gods make it happen. “We have a women’s-only world record, two men under two hours, a record number of starters and a hopefully record number of finishers. And I’m sure there will be a record number of people raising money for charity. It was last year, where we raised £87m.”
Brasher, whose father Chris also paced Sir Roger Bannister to his famous sub-four minute mile in 1954, said Sawe’s time deserved to be seen in the same light. “The sub-four mile was in Britain,” he said. “Sub-two hours for the marathon was in Britain. These are historic feats. People said that Sir Roger Bannister’s mile was the greatest sporting moment of the 20th century. Is this the greatest sporting moment of the 21st century? I don’t know, but it was just brilliant.”
Brasher’s message was echoed by the former women’s marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, who said breaking the two-hour barrier was a historic moment.
“An absolutely phenomenal race. What can you say?” she said. “We have waited how long and now two men have gone underneath two hours. It’s like waiting for a bus. It will reverberate around the world. The goalposts just moved for marathon running and where you benchmark yourself as being world-class.”
Afterwards, Sawe revealed he had been fuelled by a breakfast of two slices of bread and honey and a cup of tea. He also paid tribute to the crowds who willed him on.
“I would like to thank the crowds for cheering us,” he said. “They help a lot because if it was not for them, you do not feel you are so loved. I think they help us a lot. I think you feel so happy and strong and pushing, and that’s why I can say … what comes today is not for me alone, but for all of us today in London.”
There were plenty of other magic moments during a day when London celebrated the best of the capital and the best of humanity. They included Giorgos Petroulakis from Greece proposing to his future wife, Ismini Sermea Marathaki, having carried the engagement ring for 26.2 miles.
But there was less joy for Eilish McColgan, despite being the leading British woman after coming seventh in 2:24:51 – after her foot became drenched in blood due to a blister.
“Not long after halfway, I had a really, really bad blister in my foot,” she explained. “It sounds strange saying it, but the only way I can say it is I felt like my foot just exploded. I just had this massive tear and I thought, ‘What the hell is that?’ It was obviously pretty sore, but for it to happen quite early on, it panicked me a little bit. I had to go to see the doctor after the race, I just couldn’t put any pressure through my foot. And it was just totally covered in blood.”
Elsewhere, plenty of celebrities also ran the race including Olympian Laura Kenny (née Trott), who finished in 3:45:05. Daddy Pig, who was running in aid of the National Deaf Children’s Society, finished in 5:51:53.
Officials at Guinness World Records were also busy as 36 records were set across the day. However, Gill Punt, who had hoped to set the fastest marathon in a polar bear suit, was unable to do so on the day.
“It was a phenomenal atmosphere,” said Punt, who has now raised more than £2m for charity. “The screaming and support got me through, although I was questioning my choice of a furry costume.”
***
Sawe makes history with show of destructive beauty
Sean Ingle @The Mall
He came. He Sawe. He conquered. Not so very long ago, the idea of anyone running an official marathon in under two hours lurked only in the realms of the fantastical and theoretical: part holy grail, part scientific curiosity.
But over the course of one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds of a tumultuous spring day in London, Sabastian Sawe turned it into reality. Imagine running 100 metres in under 17 seconds – and then keeping that pace up for another 26 and a bit miles. That is what the 31-year-old Kenyan did.
Once jaws had stopped crashing to the floor, the search for comparisons began. Was it up there with Sir Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile in 1954? Or maybe Usain Bolt’s 100m world record of 9.58sec? Neither suggestion felt entirely outlandish. For this was an act of serene beauty and supreme destruction.
Beforehand Sawe’s team had insisted their man was in prime shape, and that he would be helped by the new Adidas Adios Pro 3 supershoes, which at 97 grams are the lightest in history. But no one had expected him to completely blast Kelvin Kiptum’s previous world record time of 2:00.35 out of the water.
“I am feeling good, I am so happy,” said Sawe. “It is a day to remember. I have shown that nothing is not possible.”
Insiders told the Guardian afterwards that the 31-year-old had made more than $1m (£740,000) from his victory and world record, in prize money, appearance fee and bonuses.
Incredibly, two others were also under Kiptum’s old world time: the Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who was just 11 seconds back in his debut marathon, and Jacob Kiplimo, who ran 2:00:28. London is not even considered that fast a course. Berlin is quicker, Chicago too. But on this day, the capital’s roads became an express highway.
And it was Sawe who led the way. At his training camp in Kapsabet, they call him the silent assassin: a man who talks little, except when it comes to racing. This was a world record that also arrived by stealth.
The leading men went through halfway in 60 minutes and 29 seconds: fast but not exceptionally so. But it turned out that Sawe was merely warming up.
Between 30 and 35 kilometres, Sawe and Kejelcha ran a stunning 13:54 for 5km to see off Kiplimo. Yet, staggeringly, more was to come as the pair covered kilometres 35 to 40 in 13:42. To put this into context, that time is two seconds faster than the 5km parkrun world record, set by the Irish international Nick Griggs.
It was only after a 24th mile, run in 4:12, that Kejelcha wilted. But still Sawe kept going. Astonishingly, he crossed the line having run the second half in just over 59 minutes.
“Before 41 kilometres, I’m enjoying, I’m relaxed,” said Kejelcha, who had won silver over 10,000m at last year’s world championships.
“My body is all great. At exactly 41 kilometres, my body stopped. I tried to push, but my legs were done.”
Sawe, though, powered on to set the fastest official marathon time in history. For good measure, it was also 10 seconds faster than Eliud Kipchoge’s unofficial 26.2 mile best, set in Vienna in 2019.
That attempt did not count under World Athletics rules as Kipchoge had a car acting as a giant windshield, and had 41 elite pacemakers in arrow formation, subbing in and out of the race, to help him draft and go quicker.
Sawe’s story is nearly as remarkable as his world record. He grew up in a remote village in Kenya, in a house with mud walls and no electricity, but always loved running. Yet he was so shy he would often hide in the school kitchen before races.
However one of his early teachers, Julius Kemei, forced him to compete and told him: “Running is not just talent, it’s your fortune, and your future.” It proved to be a stunning act of prophecy,
But it was only in his mid-20s, when he joined the 2Running group led by the Italian coach Claudio Berardelli, that he really began to fly. “Thank God, he didn’t give up,” said
Berardelli. “I’m happy that no one noticed him before and eventually, through just a coincidence, he came to me. But trust me, what happened today is 90% of Sabastian.”
Questions of trust will naturally circle around this record too, given the chequered history of Kenyans failing doping tests. However Sawe’s sponsors, Adidas, have paid the Athletics Integrity Unit $50,000 to test him as many times as possible this year – because they want to show he is clean.
Under a similar protocol before the Berlin marathon, Sawe was not only tested 25 times in a few weeks, but his samples were also put through methods designed to detect tiny levels of banned drugs. And, while he was tested less before London, it is understood the AIU is still subjecting him to more urine and blood tests than other marathon runners.
The women’s race turned into a three-way sprint down the Mall, with the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa defending her title after kicking from home in sight of Buckingham Palace to win in a new women’s-only world record of 2:15:41, 12 seconds clear of Hellen Obiri.
But this was a day that was all about Sawe. As he crossed the line, he performed the sign of the cross, before clasping his hands together in prayer. The gesture felt appropriate. For we really had just witnessed a marathon miracle.
TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN
Sabastian Sawe finishes more than a minute inside the previous world record
***
SWEET SUCCESS
Meals of bread and honey plus 150 training miles a week
‘I had courage to push even when the pace was fast.
I was not bothered as I was ready’
- Sabastian Sawe Marathon world record holder
27 Apr 2026 - The Guardian
Sean Ingle
Sabastian Sawe’s astonishing world marathon record of one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds at yesterday’s London Marathon was fuelled by running 150 miles a week, wearing the lightest super shoes in history and a pre-race breakfast of bread and honey.
The 31-year-old became the first man to run a sub-two-hour marathon in an official race as he powered home in the second half of the race to shatter the world record.
Afterwards, Sawe said he immediately realised that he had created a moment that would never be forgotten. “I have made history today in London,” he said. “For me, I have shown that nothing is not possible. It’s something that will remain in my mind for ever.
“I had courage to push even when the pace was so fast,” he added. “I was not bothered because I was ready for it. The crowd helped me a lot because they were cheering and calling my name and feeling strong. The world record today is also because of them.”
Meanwhile, Sawe’s coach Claudio Berardelli hailed his athlete as a “special one”, as he revealed the secrets behind his success – including being even fitter than in Berlin in September when the heat had scuppered his previous world record attempt.
“In the last six weeks he was averaging 200km (125 miles) and above a week, while the peak was 241km (150 miles),” said Berardelli. “I knew he was super-good for Berlin, but he couldn’t express himself because of the conditions. But when I started to see him running the way he ran before London, I was like, hey, something special might come out.”
Berardelli also said that Sawe had been helped by the new Adidas Pro Evo 3s, which are not only faster but are the first super shoe under 100 grams, as well as by using carbohydrate gels from Maurten, which help athletes feel stronger in the final stages.
“There is no doubt we are in the new era of marathon running because of the shoe and proper fuelling,” he added. “So we are super-glad to Adidas and Maurten. They have come to Kenya so many times to support us, because all of us realise that Sabastian was not just a good one, but he’s a special one.
“Definitely physiologically, Sabastian has to be a good one. But all the pieces come together perfectly, because of his attitude, because of his character. I’m still in the process of discovering who Sawe is. He is an exceptional human being. He has such a positive energy, but he’s so humble at the same time.
“In 22 years I’ve been coaching in Kenya I thought I’d seen pretty much everything, but then Sabastian started to show me something which I thought was almost impossible.”
And scarily, Berardelli believes that Sawe could run under 1:59 in a faster course such as Berlin or Chicago. “I would say yes, it is possible,” he added. “Sabastian hasn’t reached his maximum potential. It was only his fourth marathon, if we think of long-term adaptations, which is a process requiring time, I believe Sabastian has not reached this yet.”
Steve Cram, the former 1500m world champion and record holder, also hailed Sawe’s performance commentating for the BBC – and compared it to Sir Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile barrier.
“Absolutely incredible,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. What a finish. That you would say is unbelievable – but we have just seen it happen. None of us ever thought we would see that, especially in London. I’m lost for words. Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. People thought no human being could run that for the mile but he did.”
***
2.04:39 - 2022
10. Amos Kipruto pushes away from the rest after the Blackfriars tunnel, the Kenyan calling it “the win of my life”.
2.04:29 - 2014
2.04:17 - 2018
2.04:01 - 2021
2.04:01 - 2024
6= Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao pips Kenenisa Bekele to victory, with Britain’s Emile Cairess in third.
2.03:05 - 2016
2.02:37 - 2019
2.02:27 - 2025
3. Sabastian Sawe gives fans a hint of what’s to come. In only his second marathon, the Kenyan surges to victory.
2.01:25 - 2023
1.59:30 - 2026
2.04:29 - 2014
9. Kenya’s world record holder Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich pushes on with six miles left, streaking clear.
2.04:17 - 2018
8. Eliud Kipchoge wins in style, the Kenyan legend looking destined for a world record before fading in the heat.
2.04:01 - 2021
6= Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma, who was third in 2020 on the Covid-closed course, wins 27 seconds clear of the field.
2.04:01 - 2024
6= Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao pips Kenenisa Bekele to victory, with Britain’s Emile Cairess in third.
2.03:05 - 2016
5. Another victory for Kipchoge as he beats Stanley Biwott to finish just eight seconds outside the world record.
2.02:37 - 2019
4. Kipchoge’s third appearance in the top 10, his fastest – and his 10th consecutive major marathon victory.
2.02:27 - 2025
3. Sabastian Sawe gives fans a hint of what’s to come. In only his second marathon, the Kenyan surges to victory.
2.01:25 - 2023
2. Kelvin Kiptum finishes in a blistering time, beating Geoffrey Kamworor in second by almost three minutes. The Kenyan looks destined for greatness – but a year later dies aged 24 in a road accident in his home country.
1.59:30 - 2026
1. Sawe makes history. Sir Mo Farah, watching it unfold, says: “We’ve waited long enough to see a human go sub-two. That’s always been the question we’ve asked. We’ve just witnessed something incredible.”
Commenti
Posta un commento