Nairobi, April 26 -- Defending champion, Sebastian Sawe of Kenya, on Sunday broke the world record in men's marathon, winning the London Marathon in a new world record of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

Sawe broke his compatriot Kelvin Kiptum's old record of 2:00.35, becoming the first man to run the marathon in under two hours in a competitive race.

The late Kiptum set the old record of 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Kiptum died in a road accident on February 11, 2024.

The Kapsabet-based Sawe dictated the pace of the race in the last dying moments and cruised home unchallenged.

Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, who pushed Sawe to the last kilometre, also ran the race in under two hours on his debut over the distance, clocking 1:59...