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Indian long-distance runner Sawan Barwal made a strong marathon debut by breaking Shivnath Singh's 48-year-old Indian national record at the Rotterdam Marathon 2026 on Sunday.
Barwal finished 20th in Rotterdam with a time of 2:11:58, surpassing Shivnath Singh's 2:12:00 mark set in Jalandhar in 1978 by 0.42 seconds, according to Olympics.com. Shivnath Singh's national record stood as the longest-running Indian athletics mark for nearly five decades. Notably, Barwal completed the marathon at a speed of 19.185 km/h. The Rotterdam Marathon marked only Sawan Barwal's second competitive race of the year, following his 60th-place finish at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January. Olympian Thonakal Gopi also participated in the Rotterdam Marathon 2026, finishing 23rd with a time of 2:13:16. With the men's marathon record now finally broken, PT Usha's 1984 national record in the women's 400m hurdles has become the longest-standing Indian athletics record, which was equalled 39 years later in 2023 by Vithya Ramraj. Coming to the Rotterdam Marathon, Ethiopia's Guye Adola won the race in 2:03:54, ahead of compatriot Tesfaye Deriba, who came second with the time of 2:04:15, while Belgium's Bashir Abdi secured third place with 2:04:19. Kenya's Kenneth Kipkemoi stood at fourth with the time of 2:04:21, while another Ethiopian runner, Haymanot Alew, came fifth at 2:05:19. For the Netherlands, Filmon Tesfu came seventh with a time of 2:06:40. First held in 1983, the Rotterdam Marathon is among the world's most prestigious road races, and the 2026 edition--the 45th--carried World Athletics Gold Label status. (ANI)
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