Kenyan double as Sawe Wanjiru win in Berlin
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Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 21.09.25. | 13:08
The last time Kenya won a double in this WMM race was in 2018 when Eliud Kipchoge broke the record with Gladys Cherono taking the women's race
Sabastian Sawe and Rosemary Wanjiru made it a Kenyan double at the BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday, 21 September, beating formidable fields.
Sawe clocked 2:02:15 in the men's race while Wanjiru was first in the women's category with 2:21:05.
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In the run-up to the race, Sawe invited anti-doping authorities to test him multiple times, at least 25 times in the last two months.
The initiative, which was done in conjunction with his sponsor adidas, paying was an attempt to prove that not all Kenyans are cheats.
Sawe's time, despite being 11 seconds slower than his personal best set in Valencia in 2024, is equal ninth fastest in history, but fell outside the late Kelvin Kiptum's world record time of 2:00:35 and Eliud Kipchoge's course record of 2:01:09, set in 2022.
Japan's Akira Akasaki finished second in a time of 2:06:15 and Ethiopia's Chimdessa Debele completed the podium with 2:06:57.
Meanwhile, Wanjiru's time might have been 12 minutes slower than Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich's world record time of 2:09:56, set in Chicago in 2024, as well as outside Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa's course record time set in 2023, but her victory delivered a title Ethiopian runners had dominated for the last five editions.
The men started fast in the warmer-than-usual conditions in the German capital, recording the fastest opening kilometre in the race's history.
Sawe and the leading pack including 2024 winner Milkesa Mengesha and Gabriel Geay kept up the record pace early and were on track for the world mark inside the first 10 kilometres.
Sawe then separated himself from the leaders with 15 kilometres run, opening up an 11-second gap over Mengesha.
He had run negative splits in both of his previous marathons but fell off the pace slightly in the second half of the race as the mercury climbed in Berlin.
Despite missing a personal best or challenging the course record of his mentor Kipchoge, Sawe's time is the best in the world for 2025, 11 seconds faster than his previous mark set in London in April.
Leading results
Women
1 Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN) 2:21:05
2 Dera Dida (ETH) 2:21:08
3 Azmera Gebru (ETH) 2:21:29
4 Viola Cheptoo (KEN) 2:21:40
5 Fantu Worku (ETH) 2:21:57
6 Fabienne Konigstein (GER) 2:22:17
7 Degitu Azimeraw (ETH) 2:23:02
8 Domenika Mayer (GER) 2:23:16
Men
1 Sabastian Sawe (KEN) 2:02:16
2 Akira Akasaki (JPN) 2:06:15
3 Chimdessa Debele (ETH) 2:06:57
4 Guye Adola (ETH) 2:07:11
5 Yuhei Urano (JPN) 2:07:35
6 Hassan Chahdi (FRA) 2:07:43
7 Shin Kimura (JPN) 2:08:37
8 Hendrik Pfeiffer (GER) 2:09:14
