- Kipchoge, widely regarded as the best-every in his field, was battered by Sawe
- Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record as she also claimed victory
Sabastian Sawe saw off a strong field to take an iconic victory in the London Marathon.
The Kenyan bettered the great Eliud Kipchoge – widely regarded as the best ever men’s marathon runner – to cross the line first on The Mall.
In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa won by a considerable distance on a sun-soaked morning in London, shattering the women’s-only world record in the process.
The 28-year-old Assefa, silver medallist in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, crossed the finish line in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds, beating the previous women’s-only record of 2:16:16 set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Jepkosgei, 31, finished second in 2:18.44.
The sizzling early pace was too much for reigning Olympic marathon champion and 2024 London winner Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who fell back off the leaders around the halfway mark en route to finishing third in 2:19.00.
It was a Swiss double in the wheelchair events, with Marcel Hug racing to his sixth London marathon title in 1:25:25 and Catherine Debrunner winning her third women’s title in four years in 1:34:18, missing her own world record by two seconds.
A world record 56,000 runners were expected to participate in the 42.195-kilometre race that started at Greenwich Park, snaked along the River Thames before finishing on The Mall.
More than 56,000 people were epected to run the 26.2mile course on a warm day that saw temperatures rise up to 20 degrees Celsius in the capital.
Among the participants are David Stancombe and Sergio Aguiar, whose daughters Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were murdered in the Southport mass stabbing last summer.
They are raising money for projects in memory of their daughters and Bebe King, six, who was also killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July.
In a video message posted on X, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wished the pair ‘the very best of luck’.
He added: ‘This is an incredible way to honour the memory of your precious daughters and the entire nation is in awe of your courage and your resilience.
‘We’ll all be with you, every single step of the way.’
More to follow.
