Sawe Named World Athletics Athlete of April After Historic 1:59:30

Sabastian Sawe has been named World Athletics Athlete of the Month for April after doing something no one had ever done in a proper race — running a marathon in under two hours. The 30-year-old Kenyan clocked 1:59:30 at the London Marathon on April 26, crossing at The Mall to break Kelvin Kiptum’s world record of 2:00:35 and rewrite what anyone thought was possible over 26.2 miles.

It wasn’t even close to being a lonely run at the front. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo took third in 2:00:28 — making it the first time three men have gone under the old world record in a single race.

What stood out was how Sawe ran it. He went through halfway in 60:29, then came back in 59:01 — the fastest second-half split ever run inside a marathon. Kilometre after kilometre at 2:49.9 average pace, 422 times over. The Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed he had been through voluntary enhanced out-of-competition drug testing, which only added to the weight of the achievement.

This is also a different kind of record to Eliud Kipchoge’s famous 2019 run. That one was a controlled exhibition, not a race. Sawe ran against an elite competitive field under standard conditions, which is why his 1:59:30 counts for the record books and Kipchoge’s doesn’t.