NAIROBI, April 30 (Reuters) - Kenyan marathon runner Sebastian Sawe was feted by President William Ruto on Thursday after becomingthe first person to complete an official race in less than two hours.
Sawe's winning time of one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds at the London Marathon on Sunday shattered one of athletics' most elusive barriers, improving on the previous world record by more than one minute.
After the runner's aircraft was greeted with a traditional water-cannon salute when it landed at Nairobi's international airport late on Wednesday, Ruto welcomed 31-year-old Sawe at State House, awarding him 8 million Kenyan shillings ($62,064).
"You have not only broken a record. You have expanded the horizon of human potential," Ruto saidat a ceremony attended by government and athletics officials.
"You have done what many believed could not be done. You have made the impossible possible, and in so doing, you have inspired a nation and the world."
The previous world record of 2:00:35 was set by fellow Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in October 2023. Kiptum died in a car crash in 2024.
Another Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, broke the two-hour barrier in a specially staged event in 2019, but that did not count as an official record.
Sawe made his marathon debut with victory in Valencia in December 2024 and has won every one of his races over the distance since.
($1 = 128.9000 Kenyan shillings)
(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
