Sabastian Sawe will miss the Tokyo World Championships to compete at Berlin Marathon

Sabastian Sawe surprised fans and the Kenyan Athletics Federation with his decision to skip the World Championships in Tokyo. Instead of competing at the world championship, he intends to compete at Berlin Marathon, which will be held on September 21.

Sabastian Sawe made his marathon debut in Valencia in 2024, where he sensationally triumphed in 2:02:05 hours. The Kenyan then won the London Marathon in 2025, recording a time of 2:02:27 hours, despite strong competition from Eliud Kipchoge, Alexander Munyao and Tamirat Tola.

Despite expectations that he would represent Kenya at the World Championships in Tokyo, Sabastian Sawe announced that he would compete in the Berlin Marathon.

The men’s marathon at the World Championships is scheduled for September 15, just six days before the Berlin Marathon.

“I’m preparing for Berlin. It’s too early to talk about a world record. It takes time and precise planning”, said Sabastian Sawe.

The Berlin course is known as the fastest in the world, which raised expectations for a strong performance from Sabastian Sawe, but he himself cooled the passions, stating that his goal is to run fast, but not to set a new world record.