7 Athletics Milestones That Changed the Sport

For decades, the two-hour marathon seemed like fiction. A barrier as mental as it was physical. On Sunday in London, Sabastian Sawe turned fiction into fact.

The Kenyan became the first person to officially break the two-hour mark in a marathon, crossing the line in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds. He smashed the previous men's world record by an astonishing 65 seconds, an eternity in a sport where records often fall by fractions.

Sawe's achievement adds his name to a long list of athletics pioneers who shattered what experts once called impossible. Here's a look at some of the sport's other historic milestones.

The 100 Meters: Breaking 10 Seconds

When Jim Hines of the United States crossed the finish line in 1968, he did something no sprinter had ever done: he dipped below 10 seconds. His official time of 9.95 opened a door that has since been blown wide open.

Usain Bolt currently holds the keys to that kingdom. The Jamaican's 9.58 from 2009 remains the gold standard.

The 200 Meters: Two Men, Two Eras, One Record

Tommie Smith, another American pioneer, became the first man under 20 seconds in 1968 with a run of 19.83. Nearly three decades later, Michael Johnson stunned the world at the Atlanta Olympics with a 19.32 that rewrote the record books.

Then came Bolt again. His 19.19 from 2009 still stands. But in 2022, Noah Lyles ran 19.31, snatching the iconic American record away from Johnson and reminding everyone the event is far from settled.

The 400 Meters: Breaking 48 Seconds

On the women's side, Czech runner Jarmila Kratochvilova became the first to crack 48 seconds in 1983, posting 47.99. Two years later, East Germany's Marita Koch lowered it further to 47.60, a mark that has somehow survived four decades.

But the gap is closing. Last year, America's Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman since the Eastern Bloc era to dip under 48 seconds, running 47.78 at the world championships. She has also demolished the 400-meter hurdles record, lowering it from 52-plus seconds to 50.37 since 2021. Now she has her eyes on the 50-second barrier in that event.

The Mile: Four Minutes Falls

No list of athletics milestones is complete without Roger Bannister.

The British medical student did the unthinkable on Oxford's Iffley Road track in 1954: he ran a mile in under four minutes. His time of 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds seemed supernatural at the time. Today, more than 1,000 athletes have followed him under that bar, according to World Athletics.

But the record itself has barely moved since 1999, when Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj posted 3:43.13. Some barriers, once broken, stay broken. Others just get moved further down the road.

The Long Jump: Beamon's Leap, Powell's Reply

Bob Beamon's 1968 jump at the Mexico City Olympics remains one of the most astonishing moments in sports history. His 8.90 meters, 29 feet, 2 ¼ inches, was so far beyond what anyone thought possible that the scoreboard couldn't even display it properly.

That mark stood for 23 years. Then, in 1991, Mike Powell jumped 8.95 meters (29 feet, 4 ¼ inches). It was only the second time in history the long jump record had been broken in nearly six decades. And it has not been touched since.

Powell's record is now among the oldest in the athletics record book. But after watching Sawe shave 65 seconds off a marathon record that many considered untouchable, perhaps nothing is permanent.