Sabastian So breaks Kelvin Kiptum’s world record of 2:00:35. In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Assefa retained her title.
Published April 26, 2026
Kenya’s Sabastian Soh won the London Marathon in 1:59:30, becoming the first man to run a marathon in less than two hours.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa broke his own world record on Sunday to retain his London Marathon crown.
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But it was Saweh who stole the spotlight in a big moment in sports history, breaking the two-hour barrier and breaking the world record held by his late compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who ran 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023.
The 31-year-old, who has never lost a marathon, broke the world record by 65 seconds.
Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha followed Sawe for most of the 42.195km course, fading out on the final straight to finish second in his marathon debut with a time of 1:59:41, while Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo took bronze in 2:02:28.
All three finished under Kiptum’s previous record time.
“The start of the race went well and I felt strong at the end of the race,” Sawe said.
“When I finally got to the finish line and looked at my time, I was so excited to see that I had set a world record today.
“Coming to London for the second time was very important to me, so I was very prepared. That’s why I prepared so well.”
Kiptam died in a car accident in Kenya in 2024 at the age of 24.
In the women’s race, Assefa remained the winner.
The reigning Olympic silver medalist and World Championship silver medalist was involved in a three-way battle with Kenyan pair Helen Obiri and Joycilin Jepkosgei, but pulled away in the final stages and finished in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds.
This time was 9 seconds better than his previous personal best recorded on the same course last year.
Obiri, a former two-time world 5000m champion and marathon bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finished second with a personal best time of 2:15:53.
She finished just two-hundredths of a second ahead of her compatriot Jepkosgei.
The world record for a mixed race in which a female athlete benefits from a male pacemaker was set by Ruth Chepgetich of Kenya, who ran 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2024.
Chepgetich was handed a three-year doping ban in October last year, but his track record and record predate the sample collection in March 2025.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine DeBrunner won the men’s and women’s wheelchair events. Hug won for the sixth year in a row and for the eighth time in total, while DeBruner overtook American Tatiana McFadden until the end to claim her third straight victory at the London Games.
