It’s Official: Sawe’s Sub-Two And Assefa’s Record Are Now In The Books

The paperwork has caught up with the history. World Athletics has formally ratified the two marathon world records set at the 2026 London Marathon on April 26, which means Sabastian Sawe’s 1:59:30 is now officially the first sub-two-hour marathon in a record-eligible race, and Tigst Assefa’s 2:15:41 is the ratified women-only world record. Both marks were sensational on the day. Now they’re set in the record book for good.

Sawe’s 1:59:30 Is Now The Real Thing

Ratification matters here more than usual, because the sub-two barrier has been broken before without counting. Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019, but that was a staged exhibition with rotating pacers and other assistance that fell outside the rules. Sawe’s run in London was a standard, record-eligible race, which is exactly why World Athletics could put its stamp on it.

The 1:59:30 takes 65 seconds off the previous world record of 2:00:35, set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago on October 8, 2023. And Sawe didn’t do it alone: after a historic battle with Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, he made his decisive move with a mile to go. Kejelcha also broke two hours, clocking 1:59:41, while Kiplimo took third in 2:00:28.

Assefa Trims Her Own Women-Only Record

Assefa’s ratified mark of 2:15:41 knocks nine seconds off the women-only world record of 2:15:50 that she herself set in London a year earlier, on April 27, 2025. She had to earn it. Assefa gradually broke clear of Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei in the closing stages, with Obiri second in a personal best 2:15:53 and Jepkosgei third in 2:15:55. It was the first time three women had ever gone under 2:16 in the same race.

The Rest Of The Ratified Batch

The two London marathons headline a group of seven senior world records, plus one world U20 record, that World Athletics has now ratified from the opening five months of 2026.

Among them is another mark from Mondo Duplantis, who nudged his own pole vault world record up to 6.31m at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on March 12, competing in his birth city at the meeting that carries his name. His previous 6.30m had come when he won his third straight world title in Tokyo last September.

Two records came at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland in March. Simon Ehammer reclaimed the world indoor heptathlon title with 6670 points, finally breaking Ashton Eaton’s long-standing 6645 from 2012, and Devynne Charlton retained her 60m hurdles title in 7.65 to equal her own world record. On the track, Khaleb McRae ran a world short-track 400m record of 44.52 in Fayetteville, and a US quartet of Clay Pender, Luke Houser, Luciano Fiore and Sean Dolan clocked 7:10.29 for a world short-track 4x800m record in Philadelphia.

The U20 record belongs to China’s 18-year-old Yan Ziyi, who threw the javelin 71.74m in Xiamen on May 23, adding almost six metres to her own world U20 mark and moving to second on the senior all-time list behind only Barbora Spotakova.

For all the strength in depth in that list, though, the two marathon marks are the ones that will be remembered. A sub-two-hour marathon is officially on the books, and the record for it belongs to Sabastian Sawe.