Eliud Kipchoge, the marathon world record holder has been crowned the IAAF male athlete of the year at the athletics annual awards ceremony that happened on Tuesday in Monaco.
Kipchoge who has been hailed as the greatest marathoner of the time broke the world marathon record by one minute and 18 seconds (78 seconds) during the Berlin Marathon this year. Kipchoge completed the race in two hours, one minute and 39 seconds.
Kipchoge’s marathon performance went down in history as one of that market the biggest improvement in the marathon record since Australian Derek Clayton kicked out almost two and a half minutes from the set mark in 1967.
The Kenyan athlete almost set what would have been the world’s best record ever when he missed by 26 seconds from breaking the magical two-hour barrier in a special race on the Monza circuit in Italy in 2017. He ran for two hours and 25 seconds.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy, William Ruto, led Kenyans in congratulating Kipchoge for carrying the Kenyan flag high yet again.
“Congratulations to Eliud Kipchoge for being named IAAF Male Athlete of the Year 2018 at the awards ceremony in Monaco. A legend of the game, Kipchoge deserves the highest accolade for his prowess, consistency, tact, endurance, and strength of character,” said the Deputy President through his Twitter handle.
For the ladies, Kenyan steeplechase world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, who many thought will scoop the woman athlete of the year lost it to Caterin Ibarquen of Colombia. Caterin is the Olympic champion in the triple jump and was undefeated in eight finals during the whole event. She jumped 14.96 meters in Rabat, the longest in the world in 2018.