G.O.A.T Kipchoge Fronts Kenya's Male World Athlete Of The Year Charge
23rd October 2018
Countrymen Cheruiyot, Korir join Olympic marathon champion and record holder in the IAAF long-list of 10 in the running for the coveted award at the December 4, 2018 World Gala in Monaco
- Kipchoge, alongside Diamond League champion, Timothy Cheruiyot and 800m sensation, Emmanuel Korir are in the running to become only the second male or Kenyan of any gender for that matter, to clinch the sought-after crown following the success of two-time Olympic winner, David Rudisha in 2010
- Voting for the Male World Athlete of the Year closes on November 13. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF
NAIROBI, Kenya- Olympic champion and world marathon record holder, Eliud Kipchoge fronts three Kenyans in the running for the World Male Athlete of the Year in a long list of 10 released by the IAAF on Tuesday in Monaco.
Kipchoge, alongside Diamond League champion, Timothy Cheruiyot and 800m sensation, Emmanuel Korir are in the running to become only the second male or Kenyan of any gender for that matter, to clinch the sought-after crown following the success of two-time Olympic winner, David Rudisha in 2010.
World women 3000m steeplechase winner, Beatrice Chepkoech, was the only Kenyan in the corresponding long-list for the Female Athlete of the Year released on Monday, with the big winners set to be unveiled at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018 in Monaco on December 4.
“The IAAF is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year who were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF,” a statement on the IAAF website read in announcing the remaining nominees for the top accolade.
The Kenyan trio have American pair, Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles, Armand Duplantis (Sweden), Luvo Manyonga (South Africa), Kevin Mayer (France), Tomas Walsh (New Zealand) as well as Abderrahman Samba (Qatar) to contend with in the race to be crowned the finest male athlete of 2018.
Kipchoge, who was the star of the three part series of the ground breaking SportPesa News feature titled ‘A Day In The Life With’ that can be recapped here, here and here, has put together a trailblazing season that places him among the favourites to land the main prize in December.
Undisputed recognition
Having romped to a third London Marathon title in April where he missed the then world record of 2:02:57 by only eight seconds, Kipchoge returned to the BMW Berlin Marathon on September 16 and what happened next catapulted him to earn the undisputed recognition as the Greatest Of All Time in the distance.
He did not just break but erased compatriot Dennis Kimetto’s previous standard set at the same course in 2014 with the force of a hurricane, obliterating the world record by well over a minute when he stopped the clock at a scarcely believable 2:01:39.
It was the biggest improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967 for good measure as he inched closer to his cherished dream of covering the classic distance in a world record eligible course in under 2:00.
Having ran bravely for silver at the London 2017 Worlds behind fellow Kenyan and training partner, Elijah Manangoi, Cheruiyot stepped out of the bridesmaid’s role to rule the metric mile this season.
After being led to the altar by Manangoi
yet again at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April as well as the Asaba
2018 Africa Championships in Nigeria in July,
Cheruiyot eclipsed the world champion when he won the IAAF Diamond League
crown.
In the process, he also chalked world leads at both 1500m and the Mile, winning nine of 11 races he started over both distance to earn his place in the long list for the end season awards.
With 800m giants Rudisha and Nijel Amos (Botswana) out of the big picture in 2018, Kenyan teenager Korir stepped into the stage and dominated the notoriously tough two-lap race to get the IAAF nod.
At the end of his breakthrough campaign, Korir is credited with the world leading time at the distance of 1:42.05, the fastest time run since Rudisha set the astonishing 1:40.91 world record in 2012 in winning his first Olympic title.
Korir also added the Diamond League and IAAF Continental Cup titles to his expanding CV and was only denied a hat trick of gold medals by Amos in Asaba where he came home for the silver.
Social media
Rudisha won the Male Athlete of the Year in 2010 on the back of matching and then breaking the then world record set by Kenyan born Dane, Wilson Kipketer (1:41.11) twice inside a week when he ran 1:41.09 and 1:41.01 in Berlin and Rieti.
The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF's social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week; a 'like' on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50 percent of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 percent of the final result.
Voting for the Male World Athlete of the Year closes on November 13. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018.
Nominees for 2018 Male World Athlete of the Year
Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN)
Christian Coleman (USA)
Armand Duplantis (SWE)
Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
Emmanuel Korir (KEN)
Noah Lyles (USA)
Luvo Manyonga (RSA)
Kevin Mayer (FRA)
Abderrahman Samba (QAT)
Tomas Walsh (NZL)