Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge Named World Athlete of the Year

Celebrated Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge was on Saturday crowned Male World Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.

34-year-old Kipchoge was named the winner of the coveted title at the annual World Athletics Gala held in Monaco, France.

He trounced four other finalists to the award among them world 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda), world 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm of Norway, world 200m champion Noah Lyles (USA) and World Paul Vault champion Sam Kendricks (USA).

Kipchoge posted exceptional performances this year, defending his London Marathon title, his fourth title at the English capital.

Kipchoge, who is the world marathon record holder, also made history by becoming the first man to complete a marathon race in less than two hours. He achieved the INEOS 1:59 Challenge by finishing a 42-kilometer race 1 hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in Vienna, Austria on October 12th.

Dalilah Muhammad of the USA, who set two world records in 2019 and also won the world 400m hurdles title, scooped the Female Athlete of the Year award.

Selemon Barega of Ethiopia was named the Male Rising Star while the Female Rising Star award went to Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine.