Who is Sabastian Sawe? Profile of 'so happy' London Marathon history man

Sabastian Sawe blitzed the streets of London on Sunday to become the first man to record an official sub-two-hour marathon .

He did well even to make the starting line after suffering a stress fracture in his foot during training, before flying through the London Marathon course to finish with a remarkable time of 01:59:30 , pipping Eluid Kipchoge’s unofficial record of 1:59:40.

His time was considerably better than the previous official record, set when Kelvin Kiptum ran a 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

Sawe’s finishing time is made all the more impressive by the fact that Sunday’s race was just his fourth marathon.

Sawe is a man of few words.

On crossing the line, he simply said: “I am feeling good, I am so happy.

It is a day to remember.”
Sawe, 30, was born in Kenya ’s Rift Valley and brought up by his grandmother.

He began running at an early age but announced himself on the world stage at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships, finishing seventh in the men’s 10km race behind the likes of Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei.

He entered his first marathon the following year, trouncing the field to record the fifth-fastest marathon ever at 02:02:05, some 35 seconds clear of the second-place finisher.

Victory in Valencia was followed up with further triumphs in London and Berlin in 2025, and he successfully defended his title in London with Sunday’s historic run.

That run in Berlin was his most recent world record attempt, though he fell short with a time of 2:02:16.

He was helped on Sunday, too, by his Adidas Adios Pro 3 supershoes, which weigh in at just 97 grams and retail for an eye-watering £450.

Sawe is trained in part by his uncle, the Ugandan middle distance runner Abraham Chepkirwok, who competed in the 800m at the 2008 Olympics.

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He also works with Claudio Berardelli, one of the most highly regarded coaches in Kenya’s esteemed running community.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s race, he described Sawe’s unique talent: “I’ve been coaching for more than 20 years in Kenya, and when I started dealing with Sabastian, I immediately realised this is not just a good athlete, this is not just one of the best Kenyan guys.

“At least for my experiences, he is a different human being.

An outlier.”
Sawe will surely set his sights on a place at the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles, where he stands to shatter Tamirat Tola’s Olympic-record time of 02:06:26.