Sawan breaks Shivnath’s long-standing marathon national record in Rotterdam

India’s Sawan Barwal made a smashing marathon debut as broke Shivnath Singh’s long-standing 48-year-old National record at the Rotterdam Marathon 2026 on Sunday.

Sawan, a long distance runner, finished 20th in Rotterdam with a time of 2:11.58s, bettering Shivnath Singh’s time of 2:12:00s, set in Jalandhar in 1978. Sawan’s time was quicker by 0.42 seconds.

Shivnath Singh’s record was the longest-standing Indian athletics record and stood for nearly half a century. With the men’s marathon mark finally eclipsed, PT Usha’s 1984 national record in the women’s 400m hurdles now stands as the longest-standing mark in Indian athletics. It was only matched 39 years later in 2023 by Vithya Ramraj.

The Rotterdam meet was only Sawan’s second competitive outing of the year after the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January, where he finished 60th.

Thonakal Gopi also competed at the Rotterdam Marathon and finished 23rd with a time of 2:13:16.

Both Sawan and Gopi achieved the Athletics Federation of India’s qualification standard of 2:15:04 for the 2026 Asian Games. However, breaching the AFI mark does not guarantee Indian athletes a place in India’s Asian Games contingent. Under the AFI selection process, athletes must also compete in select domestic competitions.

Ethiopia’s Guye Adola won the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:03:54 and was followed by compatriot Tesfaye Deriba, who crossed the finish line in 2:04:15. Two-time Olympic medallist Bashir Abdi of Belgium was third after clocking 2:04:19.

First held in 1983, the Rotterdam Marathon is widely regarded as one of the world’s premier races, with the 2026 edition, its 45^th, carrying World Athletics Gold Label status.