Tag: Sabastian Sawe

Marathon world record-breaker Sabastian Sawe received a customized number plate and a whopping cash prize from the president of Kenya.

Sawe created history with a record run, winning the London Marathon in 1:59:30, shattering the previous benchmark of 2:00:35 set by his compatriot Kelvin Kiptum.

Following his achievement, the 31-year-old received a hero’s welcome at home and was honored by President William Ruto at the Statehouse in Nairobi on Thursday.

The 31-year-old received a hero’s welcome at home and was honored by President William Ruto at State House in Nairobi on Thursday.

He was offered Ksh5 million, a reward for Kenyan athletes who break a world record, and an extra Ksh3 million for a gold medal, taking his tally to Ksh8 million from the government.

In addition to this, the President also gifted him a car with a customized number plate reading ‘01 59 30’, highlighting his remarkable achievement.

Moreover, the runner gifted the President a pair of Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 supershoes, which he used to break the historic marathon record.

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William Ruto praised Sebastian Sawe, saying his record is a testament to Kenya’s dominance in long-distance running.

“What Sabastian Sawe has done by running a marathon under two hours confirms Kenya’s place as the origin of wonder,” President Ruto said during the ceremony.

“If you are looking for the origin of wonder, it is right here, as we witnessed Sabastian Sawe make history and create new wonder for the world,” he added.

For the unversed, Kenya has dominated long-distance running, and its runners are superstars in the country. However, the pressure to break into the elite means that doping is a major problem in Kenya.

Two former Kenyan winners of the men’s race at the London Marathon, Wilson Kipsang, the victor in 2012 and 2014, and 2017 winner Daniel Wanjiru, are among those to have been subsequently banned.

In a bid to allay such suspicions about his own performances, Sawe has voluntarily subjected himself to extra drug testing, even paying $50,000 to be tested 25 times in the year by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) before last year’s Berlin race.

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Marathon world record-breaker Sabastian Sawe was received with a hero’s welcome as he returned to his home country of Kenya and was praised by President William Ruto on Thursday.

Sawe made history in London on Sunday by becoming the first athlete to run a sub-two-hour marathon in race conditions.

Receiving Sawe at State House in Nairobi, Ruto said it was “a defining moment in the story of human endurance”.

He compared it to milestones in human history, including the first four-minute mile by Roger Bannister in 1954 and even the moon landing.

“Future generations will look back on 26 April, 2026, as the day a man broke through a physical and psychological barrier long thought insurmountable; and the name forever attached to that moment will be Sabastian Sawe,” Ruto said in a speech.

Sabastian Sawe clocked 1hr 59min 30sec in a tight battle with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who also came in under two hours.

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Sawe was mobbed at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when he landed late Wednesday.

“It is such a beautiful day. I’m glad you have joined me in celebrating, and that you have shown a spirit I never expected could be like this. I’m very grateful,” he told the crowd.

“I didn’t do it just for myself, I did it for all of us. And I would like us all to enjoy it and for it to stand as a record for all of us,” he added.

Kenya has dominated long-distance running, and its runners are superstars in the country.

The pressure to break into the elite means that doping is a major problem in Kenya.

Two former Kenyan winners of the men’s race at the London Marathon, Wilson Kipsang, the victor in 2012 and 2014, and 2017 winner Daniel Wanjiru, are among those to have been subsequently banned.

In a bid to allay such suspicions about his own performances, Sawe has voluntarily subjected himself to extra drug testing, even paying $50,000 to be tested 25 times in the year by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) before last year’s Berlin race.

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Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour mark for the first time in history on Sunday in winning the London Marathon as Tigst Assefa smashed her own women’s-only world record.

Kenya’s defending champion Sawe was locked in a tight battle with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in the closing stages but surged clear to cross the line in 1hr 59min 30sec.

Kejelcha, running his first-ever marathon, also dipped under two hours, with a time of 1:59:41, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplomo third (2:00:28).

All three finished under the previous men’s world record of 2:00:35 set in Chicago in 2023 by the late Kelvin Kiptum.

“We started the race well and at the end of the race, I was feeling strong,” said Sawe.

“Finally reaching the finishing line, I saw the time, and I was so excited to see I had run a world record today.

“I was very prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me, and that’s why I prepared well for it.”

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in October 2019, becoming the first person in recorded history to do a sub-two-hour marathon.

But the time was not ratified as a world record because he ran with specialised shoes, standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.

Sawe, wearing Adidas’s new Pro Evo 3 supershoe, which weighs less than 100 grams, suggested before Sunday’s race that a course record or even a world record was in his sights.

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He led a group of six as they passed the half-way point in a time of 1:00:29.

Sawe and Kejelcha pulled clear of the rest of the pack and stayed together until the final stages before the Kenyan kicked for home.

In the women’s race, reigning Olympic and world silver medallist Assefa was locked in a three-way tussle with Kenyan pair Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei, but surged away in the closing stages to cross the line in a time of 2:15:41.

That time beat by nine seconds the Ethiopian’s previous best, set on the same course last year.

“I’m so happy to win again,” said Assefa. “To repeat my victory from last year means even more. The happiness I feel is just swelling up inside me.

“It was one of my plans really coming into this competition to break my own world record from last year’s race. So to do that has brought me a lot of satisfaction.”

Obiri, a two-time former world 5,000m champion who won marathon bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, came in second in a personal best of 2:15:53.

She finished just two-hundredths of a second ahead of compatriot Jepkosgei.

The world record set in a mixed race where female athletes benefit from male pacemakers was by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, who clocked 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2024.

More than 59,000 people were expected to complete the 26.2-mile (42.2-km) course in the 46th London Marathon in warm spring weather.

Last year’s race set a new world record for the number of finishers, with a total of 56,640 entrants completing the distance.

Marathon organisers said last month they are exploring holding the event over two days next year, allowing up to 100,000 runners.

The 2025 race raised a record £87.3 million ($118 million) for charity, setting a new world record for the biggest annual one-day fundraising event.

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Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe won the Berlin Marathon for the first time on Sunday, narrowly missing a personal best in just his third marathon attempt.

Sawe finished in 2hr 02min 16sec, 11 seconds slower than his personal best set in Valencia in 2024.

Sawe’s time is joint-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.

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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 a 15-kilometre run, opening up an 11-second gap over Mengesha.

The 29-year-old Sawe 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.

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