Sabastian Sawe scoops double bonus to take home huge six-figure sum for breaking marathon world record

Sabastian Sawe takes home around £263,000 for his history-making run at the London Marathon on Sunday.

Sawe became the first athlete in history to run a sub-two-hour marathon in a competitive race.

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The 30-year-old Kenyan crossed the line in 1:59:30, beating the world record by more than a minute.

Remarkably, moments later Yomif Kejelcha became the second man to run a marathon under two hours.

He finished just behind Sawe in 1:59:41 to finish the London Marathon second.

The great Eliud Kipchoge ran under two hours in 2019, but he was not record eligible due to it being held under controlled conditions.

Sawe is in for a sizeable windfall following his record-breaking run and is due extra bonuses.

The winner of the race receives $55,000 (£40,000) and there are also time bonuses on offer.

There is a time bonus of $150,000 (£111,000) for an elite runner to finish the men’s race under 2:02:00, and for the elite women it is 2:15:00.

Breaking the world record meant there was an additional bonus of $125,000 (£92,000).

He also gets a bonus of $25,000 (£18,500) for breaking the London course record.

The quirk of the marathon is that prize money is paid in US dollars, as it is under the Abbott World Marathon Majors series.

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This means that Sawe will walk away from the event with around $355,000 (£263,000) in prize money.

Sawe, speaking on BBC TV, said: “I am feeling good. I am so happy. It is a day to remember for me.”

“We started the race well. Approaching finishing the race, I was feeling strong. Finally reaching the finish line, I saw the time, and I was so excited.”

Second world record

In the women’s elite race, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa improved her own world record.

She came home in 2:15:41 in a thrilling finish ahead of rivals Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei.

This means that Assefa will get the bonuses for breaking the course and world record in London.