Sabastian Sawe hopes the stringent testing regime he underwent before becoming the first person to break the fabled 2-hour barrier in marathon running will prove to the world he is competing clean. The 29-year-old Kenyan pulled off the feat that was long considered unthinkable when winning the London Marathon on Sunday in a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. There have been a slew of high-profile doping cases involving Kenyan runners in recent years, notably women's marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepng'etich getting a three-year ban in October.

So, in agreement with his coaches and management team, Sawe said he volunteered to undergo "multiple" doping tests to dispel any suspicion around his own performances, including victories at last year's marathons in Berlin and London. "Doping has become a cancer in my country," Sawe told reporters on Monday. Sawe said he and his team decided to implement the stringent testing regime because the possibility of people looking at his results "with a lot of doubts was not good," and he wanted to "show the world that we can run clean and also run fast."