Sabastian Sawe will not run the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on Sunday 27 September. The defending champion and world record holder has withdrawn through injury, the organiser confirmed on 27 August. His absence removes the athlete who could have anchored a possible sub-two-hour race, but it does not empty Berlin: it changes the script of an event that now has a far more open men’s race and a women’s field with its own world-record story.
The news warrants an update to SnapRace’s earlier Berlin preview. This is not a minor alteration to the start list: Sawe was the defending champion and the world-record holder. The organiser has not disclosed the nature of his injury or a return timeline, so this article stays with the confirmed information and what it means competitively for Sunday.
What is confirmed about Sabastian Sawe’s withdrawal
- Race: BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, Sunday 27 September 2026.
- Confirmed change: Sabastian Sawe will not start because of injury.
- What has not been announced: the specific injury and a date for his return.
- What the organiser does expect: Sawe will be in Berlin as a guest of honour.
- Immediate reading: the organiser no longer expects a race built around breaking two hours, while still anticipating a very fast contest.
There is no value in filling that gap with speculation. An injury withdrawal does not reveal its severity or the shape of the rest of an athlete’s season. For runners, the consequential point is different: when the clearest favourite disappears, the opening pace, the groups that form and the decisions made by the remaining contenders matter more than a pacing plan built around one historic target.
One favourite fewer does not make this an easy race
Sawe’s absence opens the men’s race; it does not lower its quality. The fastest athlete on the final list is now Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay, whose national record stands at 2:03:00. Ethiopia’s Guye Adola brings another unusually strong case: he was second in Berlin in 2017 in 2:03:46, won here in 2021 and took Rotterdam this spring in 2:03:54.
There are also athletes who make a simple reading of personal bests misleading. Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), Shura Kitata (2:03:59) and Tokyo Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega (2:05:00) belong to the first group. The organiser says five athletes on the list have run under 2:05:00 and 26 have broken 2:08:00. That is genuine depth, not an individual chase.
Race director Mark Milde spoke of a 2:01 pace reference and the possibility of attacking the course record of 2:01:09, set by Eliud Kipchoge in 2022. That is the organiser’s expectation, not a forecast or a promise. In a marathon, an ambitious opening can split the field early, but it does not by itself decide who can still race after 30km.
Why Geay and Adola are now central to the conversation
Geay owns the quickest personal best among the entrants, but his 2:03:00 came in Valencia in 2022 and a personal best does not automatically travel to another day. He noted that heat forced him to drop out in Berlin last year. His opportunity is clear: proven speed and a second chance on a course run under enormous attention.
Adola, meanwhile, knows this race from the inside. His 2017 runner-up finish, 2021 victory and Rotterdam win this spring create a profile with specific experience of fast marathons. The organiser also reports his statement that he has arrived in the best shape of his life. That is an intention, not an advance result; which is exactly why the interest lies in how he manages a field containing runners with comparable credentials.
For followers, Sawe’s withdrawal changes the question. It is no longer mainly whether one leader can sustain an extreme time. It becomes who takes responsibility once the group reaches the second half, which athletes accept the early pace and who retains an answer for the decisive phase. That uncertainty is Berlin 2026’s sporting story.
The women’s race has its own record focus
The men’s withdrawal should not eclipse the women’s race. Tigst Assefa returns to the course where she ran 2:11:53 in 2023, the standing course record. The organiser puts the current world record at 2:09:56 and says Assefa wants to reclaim it while breaking the two-hour-ten barrier. The Ethiopian has said that she wants to improve her personal best; she has not promised a record.
Defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru arrives with a personal best of 2:16:14 and has stated an aim of moving towards 2:15. Bedatu Hirpa (2:18:27), Dera Dida (2:18:32) and Zeineba Yimer (2:18:47) are also in the front group. Sunday should therefore not be framed only through Sawe’s absence: the two elite races have different logics, with a more open men’s contest and an extraordinary women’s time reference.
The weekend numbers, read correctly
SCC EVENTS expects more than 84,000 participants from 162 nations across all weekend activities. That total includes youth events, the GENERALI 5K, skating, handbike and wheelchair racing. For Sunday’s marathon, the organiser expects more than 56,000 participants. These are participation forecasts, not finisher totals or the size of the elite field.
Berlin’s mass-participation scale remains part of the appeal, but it should be kept separate from the competitive narrative. The 42.195km do not become faster simply because more bibs are on the course. The elite outcome will depend on pace, Sunday’s actual conditions, fuelling decisions and the ability to race through the final third.
What to watch on Sunday
- The first meaningful checkpoint: whether the men’s group actually commits to a 2:01 projection or whether Sawe’s absence moderates the plan.
- Group composition: a large pack in the first half does not mean everyone in it has the same chance of winning.
- The 30km to 35km section: this is often where attacks become more than a statement of pace.
- Assefa’s race: compare her splits with her own objective without declaring a world record before it exists.
- The official results: wait for the final classification before turning a provisional place or split into a definitive recap.
The lesson for a recreational runner is not to reproduce elite pace or to diagnose someone else’s withdrawal. It is simpler: a marathon is built around uncertainty. Planning matters, but so does the ability to adjust when the original plan changes. Berlin will offer an extreme example on Sunday: without Sawe, the field loses its main reference and gains a race that must be read kilometre by kilometre.