• The current Marathon world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge was honoured yesterday when he was crowned the IAAF male athlete of the year at the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) annual awards ceremony which was held in Monaco. 

    Speaking of Eliud Kipchoge, the IAAF wrote in a report published on its official website that:

    “Kipchoge underlined his status as the world’s most dominant distance runner.
    “The 34-year-old Kenyan won the London Marathon in April in 2:04:17 to finish comfortably ahead of one of the deepest marathon fields in history.
    “Five months later, he won the Berlin Marathon in 2:01:39 to smash the world record. His time in the German capital was 78 seconds faster than the previous world record, representing the biggest single improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967.”

    The award was presented to an excited Kipchoge by IAAF president Sebastian Coe, who alongside the Prince of Monaco were among the superpowers in attendance.

    This will be the first time Kipchoge would win the award and it is indeed well deserves considering his feat in long distance races.

    Winning the London Marathon in April comfortably at age 34 came to many as a surprise as the Nike Ambassador showed no signs of age or fatigue. 

    The president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, took to Twitter to congratulate Kipchoge for this achievement.

    Kenya President Congratulates Kipchoge for cementing Kenya's place as one of the leaders in athletics.

    Other award winners on the night include:

    Male Rising Star – Armand Duplantis

    Female Rising Star – Sydney Mclaughlin

    IAAF President’s Award – Andreas Brugger

    IAAF Coaching Achievement Of The Year – Joe Vigil

    IAAF Woman of the Year Award – Evelyn Claudio Lopez

    Athletics Photograph of the Year – Felix Sanchez Arrazola

    Credits

    Header Image Credit: REUTERS