Kenyan Athlete Seals New World Record in London Marathon 2026

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A new world record in the men's marathon was set at the London Marathon 2026 by Sebastian Sawe, a Kenyan athlete.

Sawe secured the world record with a finish time of under two hours, specifically 1 hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

'We had a great start to the race. Crossing the finish line, I felt incredibly strong,' said Sebastian Sawe in an interview with ANTARA on April 26.

This achievement marked a significant improvement over the previous world record held by Kelvin Kiptum, which was set at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

Sawe's time surpassed Kiptum's record by 65 seconds, with a notable difference of 10 seconds from Eliud Kipchoge's record set in 2019, although Kipchoge's record was not recognized as official due to the absence of an open competition and pacemaker assistance.

This result was Sawe's second appearance at the London Marathon. He felt that his performance was at its peak, thanks to extensive preparation prior to the event.

'Coming to London Marathon for the second time was thrilling, and I had prepared extensively for it,' he stated.

The conditions in London were ideal, with the men's runners starting the race at a very fast pace. Sawe was actually running below the world record pace as early as 10 kilometers into the race, before the tempo of the lead pack began to slow near Cutty Sark.

The main competitors remained close as a group for the next 5 kilometers, but by halfway, Sawe was already registering a time of 1 hour 29 minutes.

Together with Yomif Kejelcha, Sawe began to pull away from Jacob Kiplimo, who trailed by two seconds among the leaders at around 30 kilometers. Over the subsequent 5 kilometers, the gap between the two leaders continued to widen.

Just when it seemed only the course record would be broken, Sawe discovered an extra burst of speed, accelerated his pace, and etched a new chapter in history.

This victory also allowed Sawe to maintain his title of London Marathon champion, which he had secured in 2025.

'All the four months of preparation have finally yielded a very successful outcome,' he added.

A new women's record was also established, as Tigst Assefa successfully defended her women's title in London with a new world record time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 41 seconds for women, although this record and Sawe's remain pending official verification.