NAIROBI, Kenya, April 27, 2025 – Sabastian Sawe cruised to victory at Sunday’s London Marathon in what was his second ever 42km race.
Sawe clocked 2:02:27 to cut the tape ahead of Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda who timed 2:03:37 to finish second.
Immediate former defending champion Alexander Munyao finished third in 2:04:20 in a race in which two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge took sixth place after running 2:02:25.
Back to Sawe, the World Half Marathon champion showed brilliant race execution, breaking away from the leading pack after 30km to grab his second straight Marathon victory.
Even with Kiplimo’s late pressure, Sawe had done more than enough to secure victory to add on to his debut triumph at the Valencia Marathon in December last year.
Jepkosgei near-miss
In the women’s race, Joyciline Jepkosgei had to be content with second after fading away in the last 8km.
Up until then, the 2021 London Marathon had been locked in a two-way battle with Olympics silver medalist Tigst Assefa.
However, Assefa upped the tempo to break away from the Kenyan, eventually cutting the tape in a women-only world record of 2:15:50.
Jepkosgei, though exhausted, crossed the finish line in 2:18:43, whereas Olympic champion Sifan Hassan came third in 2:18:59.
