Assefa targets London repeat & Sawe eyes course record

Reigning champion Tigst Assefa is targeting a repeat of her record-breaking London Marathon victory when she resumes her fascinating rivalry with Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and world champion Peres Jepchirchir in this year’s race.

Four of the six fastest women in history will go head-to-head at the London Marathon on Sunday, 26 April, with Joyciline Jepkosgei also set to compete.

In the elite men’s race, defending champion Sebastian Sawe has predicted a course record will be required for victory over a field which also includes half-marathon world record holder Jacob Kiplimo, who finished runner-up in London over 26.2 miles last year.

Assefa triumphed in a women-only world record time of two hours 15 minutes 50 seconds in 2025.

But the Ethiopian was denied golds at the past two major global athletics championships in dramatic sprint finishes against rivals Hassan and Jepchirchir, themselves both past winners in London.

“Winning last year’s London Marathon and setting a women-only world record was one of the proudest moments of my career, and I want to repeat that again this year,” said Assefa.

Assefa previously held the outright women’s world record after running 2:11:53 in Berlin in 2023.

She remains the second-fastest female marathon runner in history, behind Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, who was banned from the sport for three years after admitting to anti-doping rule violations following a positive test in March last year.

Chepngetich’s achievements that pre-date that sample, including her world record time of 2:09:56 in Chicago in 2024, still stand.

While no female athlete in history had run below Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing record of 2:15:25 until 2019, eight have surpassed that mark in the past seven years – including Assefa, Dutch star Hassan (2:13:44) and Kenyans Jepkosgei (2:14:00) and Jepchirchir (2:14:43).

The women-only record applies to races that take place without male pacemakers or competitors.

Kenya’s Sawe, meanwhile, won the London Marathon on his debut in a time of 2:02:27 last year – the second-fastest time on the course behind only the late Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:01:25 in 2023.

Sawe and Kiplimo are joined on the start line by 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder Joshua Cheptegei, Olympic marathon champion Tamirat Tola and 2022 London winner Amos Kipruto.

“It was my first time running in London last year and it was one of the proudest moments of my life to cross the line as champion,” said Sawe, who also won the 2025 Berlin Marathon.

“I am sure it will take another fast time to win again, perhaps the type of effort the great Kelvin Kiptum put in when he set the course record in 2023.”

The elite British entries, which include Emile Cairess and Eilish McColgan, were announced earlier this week.