London Marathon results 2026: Sawe makes sporting history with 1:59:30

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe became the first person to break the magical two hour mark in a competitive marathon on a historic day in London.

Never in a race had two hours been threatened – the late Kelvin Kiptum with his 2:00:35 from Chicago in 2023 was the closest – but here not just Sawe but also marathon debutant Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) went under the fabled mark for the 26.2 miles.

It was only in the closing stages that it became apparent that history could be made – and it was crucial that the two of them were there to push each other when it mattered.

They were locked together into the final kilometre before 31-year-old Sawe accelerated clear to smash the barrier with a time of 1:59:30, with Kejelcha second in 1:59:41.

It is one of the iconic marks in sport – up there with Sir Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile in 1954.

All of which understandably overshadowed Tigst Assefa (ETH) beating her own women’s-only world record and course best from last year by nine seconds as she won a thrilling three-way battle in the women’s race against Kenyan duo Joyciline Jepkosgei and Hellen Obiri in 2:15:41.

Here’s how everything played out on a remarkable day…

Elite Men – Two under two hours!

An opening 28:35 10km quickly thinned out the head of the field to six runners – the unbeaten Sawe, Kejelcha, Jacob Kiplimo (UGA), Tamirat Tola (ETH), Amos Kipruto (KEN) and Deresa Geleta (ETH).

And all six were still together at halfway, going through in 1:00:29 – just off the pace required to beat the world record of 2:00:35.

Just five seconds covered them at 30km but it was there that three men – Sawe, Kejelcha and Kiplimo started to push clear of the others.

Kiplimo then just started to just lose a bit of ground on the other two as Sawe and Kejelcha forged ahead.

What happened next will be forever remembered – it was only after the 35km point that the projected winning time suddenly started to dip under the world record.

But when they reached 40km the projection suggested not just a world record but also that two hours might finally be breached – the great Eliud Kipchoge had clocked 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019 but that was utilising technology and a non-race environment as part of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

Here it was an epic duel and Sawe somehow found hidden reserves to sprint down The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace to smash the previous record by over a minute and go a full 30 seconds under two hours.

Elite Women – Assefa also makes history

The pace in the women’s race was fierce from the outset – 31:03 for the first 10km – and it was no surprise to see it whittled down to the ‘big three’ of defending champion Assefa, Obiri and Jepkosgei.

They were out on their own by the halfway point and well under world record pace in 1:06:12.

However it did slow from then on – and the three by now were without any pacemakers – but going through 30km in 1:35:21 they were still inside Assefa’s world best and course record time from London 12 moths ago of 2:15:50.

The predicted time at that stage was just over 2:14 and the pattern continued – the lead was swapping hands and from 35km it was Obiri, last year’s winner of the New York City Marathon but a London debutant, who moved to the front and tried to shake off her two rivals.

They were still locked together in the closing kilometre approaching Buckingham Palace but it was here that Assefa put the hammer down to move clear of her two rivals.

She looked super strong down the finish straight as she sprinted away for a second straight win to beat her own women’s-only and course best time from last year by nine seconds.

That would normally have dominated the headlines but what happened in the following 15 minutes in the men’s race would rewrite the record books.

Obiri was second in 2:15:53, with another two seconds to Jepkosgei as all three went under 2:16.

Elite Wheelchair – Swiss double

The two defending champions retained their crowns – but in contrasting styles.

Swiss superstar Marcel Hug was in typically dominant form as he added another record to his CV.

The man known as the Silver Bullet had company for the first 10km but was on his own after that. At halfway he was nearly a minute ahead of Luo Xingchuan (CHN) and had extended that to over four minutes by the finish.

Hug crossed the line in 1:24:13 for his sixth straight win in the race, with Xingchuan in second and British Paralympic hero David Weir in third – an incredible 22nd podium for the 46-year-old.

Hug’s success puts him level with Weir on eight London victories.

But in the women’s race Catherine Debrunner (SUI) had to work incredibly hard for her third straight win.

For she was locked together with another former winner Tatyana McFadden (USA) for pretty much the whole race and it was only going past Buckingham Palace that she was able to put daylight between them.

Just five seconds separated them on the line, with Debrunner crossing it first in 1:38:29. Third place went to Manuela Schär (SUI) in 1:41:20.

London Marathon Results

Sunday April 26, 2026 – 26.2 miles

Elite Men

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Difference to winner
1	Sabastian Sawe	KEN	1:59:30	—
2	Yomif Kejelcha	ETH	1:59:41	+0:11
3	Jacob Kiplimo	UGA	2:00:28	+0:58
4	Amos Kipruto	KEN	2:01:39	+2:09
5	Tamirat Tola	ETH	2:02:59	+3:29
6	Deresa Geleta	ETH	2:03:23	+3:53
7	Addisu Gobena	ETH	2:05:23	+5:53
8	Geoffrey Kamworor	KEN	2:05:38	+6:08
9	Peter Lynch	IRL	2:06:08	+6:38
10	Mahamed Mahamed	GBR	2:06:14	+6:44

Elite Women

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Difference to winner
1	Tigst Assefa	ETH	2:15:41	—
2	Hellen Obiri	KEN	2:15:53	+0:12
3	Joyciline Jepkosgei	KEN	2:15:55	+0:14
4	Degitu Azimeraw	ETH	2:19:13	+3:32
5	Catherine Reline Amanang’ole	KEN	2:21:20	+5:39
6	Eunice Chebichii Chumba	BRN	2:23:44	+8:03
7	Eilish McColgan	GBR	2:24:51	+9:10
8	Julia Paternain	URU	2:25:47	+10:06
9	Rose Harvey	GBR	2:26:14	+10:33
10	Marta Galimany	ESP	2:27:38	+11:57

Elite Men wheelchair

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Difference to winner
1	Marcel Hug	SUI	1:24:13	—
2	Luo Xingchuan	CHN	1:28:46	+4:33
3	David Weir	GBR	1:29:23	+5:10
4	Tomoki Suzuki	JPN	1:30:05	+5:52
5	Jetze Plat	NED	1:31:04	+6:51

Elite Women wheelchair

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time	Difference to winner
1	Catherine Debrunner	SUI	1:38:29	—
2	Tatyana McFadden	USA	1:38:34	+0:05
3	Manuela Schär	SUI	1:41:21	+2:52
4	Yajuan Tian	CHN	1:46:59	+8:30
5	Zhaoqian Zhou	CHN	1:46:59	+8:30