During the London Marathon 2026 Sunday (26 April), the world watched the greatest men’s marathon race in history, with the top two finishers running in under two hours. Tigst Assefa won back-to-back titles, setting a women-only world record.
On Sunday (26 April), Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe set a new record by becoming the first man to run under two hours over the classic 42.2 km route in a race atmosphere for back-to-back London Marathon victories.
Sawe surged past the finish line in one hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds (1:59:30), shattering the previous world record* held by the late Kelvin Kiptum by more than a minute.
The world watched the greatest marathon ever, with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha (1:59:41) finishing in second place in less than two hours.
To add to the spectacle, the top three men all finished under the previous world mark, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo coming in third at 2:00:28.
Tigst Assefa made history in the women’s race, winning her second consecutive London Marathon victory in 2:15:41, a women-only world record.
Assefa was tactically clever on the day, making her move with only a few hundred metres to go, leaving Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei behind her.
Obiri, a two-time New York Marathon winner, finished close behind Assefa in 2:15:53, with Jepkosgei rounding out the podium in 2:15:55.
Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hug retained their championships in the wheelchair races.