Sebastian Sawe
Having never competed on the road before, the Kenyan Sebastian Sawe began the 2022 Seville Half Marathon as a pacemaker. However, within the first 10km, he surged ahead, dropping the entire field and continuing on to claim victory in a course record time.
His potential became even clearer in 2024 when he ran the second-fastest marathon debut in history in Valencia. His time of 2:02:05 was just 12 seconds slower than the late Kelvin Kiptum's debut two years earlier — Kiptum later went on to break the world record in Chicago in 2023.
The signs were there. But few could have anticipated the historic moment that unfolded on a perfect April morning in London where he secured a world record in 1:59:30.
Speaking just 24 hours after making history as the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in an official race, Sawe admitted the time surprised even him, as his main focus had simply been on defending his title
