Euphoria in Kenya After Sabastian Sawe’s Record-Breaking Win

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Euphoria in Kenya After Sabastian Sawe’s Record-Breaking Win

The London Marathon winner’s achievement has resonated nowhere more than in Kenya’s Rift Valley, which has yielded many champions.

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Sabastian Sawe ran the London Marathon in less than two hours on Sunday.

Credit...

Matthew Childs/Reuters

By

Matthew Mpoke Bigg

and

John Eligon

Matthew Mpoke Bigg reported from Nairobi and John Eligon reported from Iten, Kenya.

April 27, 2026,

1:54 p.m. ET

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When Eliud Kipchoge ran a sub two-hour marathon seven years ago, it sparked an explosion of national pride in his home country, Kenya, as the culmination of more than half a century of distance-running dominance.

But there was an asterisk.

Mr. Kipchoge had run without competition and with a series of pacemakers, so it was not recognized as an official record. Now the milestone has been breached without an asterisk and, once again, it has been done by a Kenyan.

Sabastian Sawe came in a full 30 seconds below that once unthinkable barrier at the London Marathon on Sunday. He smashed the world record — also set by a Kenyan — by more than a minute. The reaction in Kenya has been euphoric.

“This is more than a win; it is a defining moment,” President William Ruto of Kenya said in a post on X. “Your triumph places you firmly among the greats of global athletics and reaffirms Kenya as an enduring force at the pinnacle of distance running.”

The achievement has resonated nowhere more than in the Rift Valley, which has yielded many of Kenya’s champions. Runners from around the world go to train in the area, part of a geographical feature that bisects the country from north to south, attempting to capitalize on the high altitude and the chance to train among the best of the best.

To make the point clear, Iten, a town in the Rift Valley famous for high-altitude training, welcomes visitors with an arch along the main road declaring it the “Home of Champions.”

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