Sabastian Sawe Breaks Two-Hour Marathon Barrier at the 2026 London Marathon

On 26 April 2026 Sabastian Sawe won the men’s elite race at the London Marathon in 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds, becoming the first athlete to complete a marathon under two hours in an official competition and establishing a new world record. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finished second in 1:59:41, while Tigist Assefa set a women-only record of 2:15:41. All three podium finishers wore Adidas’ Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 shoes.

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The sub-two-hour marathon has long been described as a “pip­edream.” Paul Tergat, who first ran under 2:05 in 2003, warned that “what remains impossible is running a marathon in under two hours.” Prior attempts such as Eliud Kipchoge’s 1:59:40 in 2019 (non-record-eligible) and Nike’s 2017 Breaking2 project fell short of official recognition. London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher likened Sawe’s achievement to Roger Bannister’s 1954 four-minute mile, calling it “the greatest day in London Marathon history.”

Rolling Stone

Sawe’s time of 1:59:30 required an average pace of 4 minutes 33 seconds per mile. He consumed 325 g of carbohydrates during the race and ran in 97-gram Adidas shoes featuring Lightstrike Pro Evo foam, a carbon-fiber “stiffening element,” and a curved carbon plate that tilts the foot forward. Laboratory estimates suggest the shoe design can reduce energy expenditure by 4-6 percent per stride. The shoes’ ultralight construction and fore-foot-biased geometry aim to improve running economy, a factor highlighted by multiple experts.

Scientific American

Hugh Brasher described the performance as a historic “before-and-after” moment for marathon running. Adidas’ general-manager of running Patrick Nava said the Evo 3 is the result of “more than a dozen iterations…working closely with our athletes…measuring things down to the nearest nanogram.” Following the race, Adidas shares rose 2 percent, and the company announced a public release of the shoe in the autumn marathon season.

The Straits Times

Harvard biologist Daniel Lieberman cautioned that “it’s not quite the same thing” as Bannister’s feat, emphasizing that the shoes constitute a “technology-assisted” advantage. Brad Wilkins of the University of Oregon’s Performance Research Laboratory noted that equipment, belief, and training together accelerate performance, implying that shoe innovation plays a substantial role. Paul Tergat’s earlier skepticism about breaking the two-hour barrier underscores ongoing debate about the relative weight of technology versus human ability.

Scientific American

Sources differ on the prior world record: some cite Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, while others reference Kipchoge’s 1:59:40 in 2019, which was ineligible for record status because of paced conditions. The discrepancy highlights a gap in how “record” is defined across official and non-official attempts.

Rolling Stone

• “None of us ever thought we would see that.” — Steve Cram, former 1,500 m world champion, BBC commentary

The Straits Times

• “The big difference is it's so light and very comfortable,” — Sabastian Sawe, marathon winner, post-race interview

The Straits Times

• “But what remains impossible is running a marathon in under two hours.” — Paul Tergat, former marathon world-record holder

The Guardian

• “People are just getting faster and faster and faster, partially due to equipment, partially due to belief in the fact that we can run this fast and partially due to training and adaptations because of that belief,” — Brad Wilkins, director, University of Oregon Performance Research Laboratory

Scientific American

• “When you have somebody running 26.2 miles, and you try to figure out scientifically what it is that’s causing one person to run faster than another; nobody can figure that out,” — Daniel Lieberman, professor of biological sciences, Harvard University

Scientific American

Coaches anticipate that faster courses such as Berlin or Chicago could yield further minute-level improvements, especially as shoe manufacturers refine carbon-plate geometry and foam compounds. Adidas plans a wider consumer release of the Evo 3 in the autumn, while competitors like Nike are developing new Alphafly and Vaporfly iterations. Analysts expect the sub-two-hour benchmark to become a new standard for elite marathon performance.

The Straits Times