Thirty-year-old Kenyan Sebastian Save won one of the world's most prestigious marathons, finishing the distance in 1:59.30. This time was the first time in the history of official races to be run under two hours.

His compatriot Eliud Kipchoge had previously achieved a similar result, running the distance in 1:59.41 in Vienna in 2019. However, that race was held under special conditions—with pacemakers and technical support—so the world record was not officially recorded.

Save attracted the attention of the running community back in 2024, when he clocked 2:02:05 at the Valencia Marathon. Prior to this, he had successfully competed in cross-country and half marathons, after which he quickly entered the marathon elite.

In 2025, he won his first London Marathon with a time of 2:02.27, and later won the Berlin Marathon, improving his time to 2:02.16. During this period, the athlete underwent multiple doping tests, all of which were negative.

The decisive race took place on April 26, 2026, where Save set a historic record in a close battle with Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha. Kejelcha finished second with a time of 1:59.41—and this was his marathon debut.

Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo took third place with a time of 2:00.28.

All three surpassed the previous world record of 2:00.35, set by Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum on October 8, 2023, in Chicago. Four months after this achievement, Kiptum died in a traffic accident in his home country.

Although the Chicago and Berlin courses are traditionally considered faster, the 2026 London Marathon saw a historic breakthrough: two athletes broke the two-hour barrier for the first time in an official competition.

Запись For the first time in history, a person ran a marathon under 2 hours. впервые появилась Tajikistan News in English.