‘Silent assassin’ Sabastian Sawe targets world record in London Marathon

• Kenyan taking part in only his fifth career marathon

• Jacob Kiplimo and Tamirat Tola among his main rivals

They call Sabastian Sawe the silent assassin. And, whisper it, but the Kenyan may just take down the men’s world marathon record in London on Sunday.

It is an imposing target, set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023, which stands at two hours and 35 seconds. But Sawe believes he is in similar shape to when he went for the world record in Berlin last September, only to be thwarted by temperatures in the mid-20s centigrade.