Sawe's Sub-Two-Hour Marathon Leads a Strong Moment of the Year Field
Sabastian Sawe's London Marathon win in 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds is one of three standout moments nominated for World Athletics' Moment of the Year. The other two are Josh Kerr's mile world record and Botswana's men's 4x400m relay title at the world relays.
Sawe, who is from Kenya, became the first athlete to run a competitive marathon in under two hours. The race covers 42.195 kilometres, and two hours has been the number runners have talked about for years. Sawe crossed the line inside it, and BBC Sport reported that Kelvin Kiptum's previous mark of 2:00:35, set in 2023, was now beaten.
He was not alone under the line. Yomif Kejelcha also broke two hours and finished second. Jacob Kiplimo, third, also beat the previous world record.
Kerr's mile was a different kind of fast. He ran 3 minutes 42.66 seconds at the London Diamond League in July, breaking Hicham El Guerrouj's mile world record, which had stood for 27 years, by almost half a second. A mile is four laps of the track, and Kerr's 1500m split of 3:27.62 was a world lead, meaning the fastest time of the year so far. Kerr represents Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Botswana's men's 4x400m relay win at the world relays rounds out the trio. In a relay, four runners each cover one lap, so a team title depends on every handover landing cleanly.
The Moment of the Year is a new fan-powered honour, and World Athletics has now named its finalists. Eighteen nominees were first announced in October. The winner will be revealed at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on 29 November.
Sawe is also in the running for Men's World Athlete of the Year. World Athletics named 10 men and 10 women as nominees for that award, chosen by an international panel of athletics experts. The governing body has also launched a revamped Coach of the Year award and unveiled a new voting system for the awards.
For casual fans, the appeal is simple. A marathon that lasted under two hours and a mile that ran faster than any before it are numbers anyone can understand, even without a stopwatch habit. Sawe, Kerr and the Botswana relay team now wait to see which of those moments the voters choose.
