Sabastian Sawe: How a Kenyan broke the two-hour barrier and made history at the London Marathon

At the finish line, Savi held up sponsor Adidas’ latest “super shoe” with his time written next to it, thanking technology for helping him.

The Adidas Adios Pro 3 shoes cost £450 and weigh just 99 grams, making them 30% lighter than the previous model.

The company claims an 11% improvement in forefoot energy return and a 1.6% improvement in running economy compared to its predecessor. Tigst Assefa also wore the shoes to break the women’s-only record on Sunday.

However, to benefit from these statistics, Sawe runs around 200km a week at high altitude – averaging almost 30km a day – and believes the increased volume is one of the key factors in his progress.

Fuel developments also contribute to the advancement of endurance events. Sawe reportedly consumed 115 grams of carbohydrates per hour during the game, with a breakfast of two slices of bread, honey and tea.

All this combined allowed him to run 26.2 miles at an average pace of 2:50/km or 4:33/mile, including a 13:42 time for the 5km split from 35km to 40km as he accelerated towards the finish.

However, in a series of high-profile doping cases involving Kenyan athletes, including women’s marathon World record holder Ruth Chepguitic, He also recognized the need to instill confidence in these performances.

To prove his innocence in competition, Adidas offered the anti-doping agency Athletics Integrity Unit $50,000 (£36,900) to test Sawe frequently over a 12-month period.

He reportedly played 25 out-of-competition tests before heading to Berlin in September, continuing at a similar pace to his preparations for London.

“This is very important for me because it removes any doubts about my track career and yesterday’s performance,” Savi said on Monday.

“It shows that Sabastian Sawe is clean. It shows that clean runs are good, we can run clean and we can run faster.

“It makes people realize that there is no doubt that Sebastian Savi is a clean athlete.”

Wherever Savi goes next, the world will be watching to see, and his coach backs up his statement that there’s more to come.