Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe makes history with first sub-two-hour marathon

In the London Marathon, Sawe finished first in 1:59:30, breaking the official two-hour barrier. Yomif Kejelcha finished 11 seconds behind in 1:59:41 and Jacob Kiplimo was third in 2:00:28. Tigist Assefa also set a women’s-only world record with 2:15:41.

A newly launched cutting-edge 'super-shoe' costing $500 debuted ahead of the London Race, intended to debut in London for Sawe, Kejelcha and Assefa, alongside a latest running suit claimed to improve running economy by up to 1%.

In June 2025, Faith Kipyegon launched a bid to become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile under supervised conditions; she lowered her own mile world record but could not go below the mark in Paris.

Sawe won both the London and Berlin marathons in 2025, clocking 2:02:16 in those races.

In his marathon debut, Sawe won the Valencia Marathon in 2024 with a time of 2:02:05.

Two years after Monza, Kipchoge took another shot at a curated sub-two-hour attempt on the streets of Vienna; the timings from this race are not considered official by World Athletics.

Nike's Breaking2 project staged a private attempt to complete a sub-two-hour marathon in Monza, Italy, featuring scientists studying conditions, the latest shoes, and a shield of pace setters. Although Kipchoge reportedly broke the world record, he fell short of the sub-two-hour goal.