Brazilian Daniel Yazbek experienced a unique emotion: this Sunday (26), he watched – from moments before the race until the celebration of the result – the breaking of the marathon world record directly from Kenya, homeland of Sabastian Sawe, long distance runner who won the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.
After years of global obsession, laboratory experiments and near misses, the marathon’s final hurdle finally fell when it shattered the world record previously held by , who had set a time of 2:00:35 in October 2023.
Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha followed Sawe closely for much of the 42.195 kilometer course, before running out of steam in the final stretch and taking second place in his marathon debut, with a time of 1h59m41s.
Jacob Kiplimo, from Uganda, took bronze in 2h00m28s, marking the most remarkable finish in the history of the men’s marathon. Kiptum, a former record holder, died in a car accident in 2024, in Kenya, when he was just 24 years old.
