Sabastian Sawe's sub-two-hour marathon ratified by World Athletics
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Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 23.07.26. | 15:36
He now becomes the first athlete to run a legal, record-eligible marathon in under two hours
Kenya's Sabastian Sawe has officially entered the history books after World Athletics ratified his sensational 1:59.30 performance at the 2026 London Marathon as the men's marathon world record.
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Sawe became the first athlete to run a legal, record-eligible marathon in under two hours when he produced the historic time on 26 April, which lowered the previous world record of 2:00.35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon by 65 seconds.
The ratification carries special significance because while Eliud Kipchoge famously ran 1:59.40 in Vienna in 2019, that performance came in a specially organized exhibition under controlled conditions and was not eligible for world record recognition.
Sawe's feat, however, came during a standard competitive marathon that met all World Athletics requirements.
The Kenyan sealed victory after an enthralling battle with Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha and Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo.
Sawe made his decisive move with one mile remaining before pulling away to cross the finish line in 1:59.30. Kejelcha also broke the two-hour barrier in 1:59.41, while Kiplimo finished third in 2:00.28.
Sawe's record was one of eight global marks ratified by World Athletics from performances recorded during the first five months of 2026.
In the women's race in London, Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa successfully defended her title in 2:15.41, shaving nine seconds off the women-only world record of 2:15.50 that she had set at the same event in 2025.
Assefa pulled away from Kenya's Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei in the closing stages, with Obiri finishing second in a personal best of 2:15.53 and Jepkosgei taking third in 2:15.55. It marked the first time three women finished a marathon in under 2:16.
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Elsewhere, Sweden's Armand "Mondo" Duplantis extended his dominance in the pole vault after improving his own world record to 6.31m at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on 12 March.
The mark eclipsed the 6.30m he cleared while winning his third successive world title in Tokyo in 2025.
American sprinter Khaleb McRae also earned a place in the record books after clocking 44.52 in the men's short track 400 m at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville on 13 February.
His time bettered the previous world record of 44.57 set by compatriot Kerron Clement in 2005.
China's Yan Ziyi, meanwhile, set a new under-20 world javelin record after launching the spear 71.74 m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen on 23 May.
The 18-year-old improved her previous world U20 mark by almost six metres and moved to second on the senior all-time list behind Czech legend Barbora Špotáková.
The list of ratified records was completed by the United States quartet of Clay Pender, Luke Houser, Luciano Fiore and Sean Dolan, who set a new world short track 4x800m record of 7:10.29 at the Penn Classic in Philadelphia on 6 February.