Kenya’s long-distance legendary runner, Eliud Kipchoge on Monday was nominated by the International Association of Athletics Federations(IAAF) for the 2019 Male World Athlete of the Year award.
Kipchoge was nominated alongside his compatriot, Timothy Cheruyiot who has won 10 of his 11 outdoor races across all distances including winning the Diamond League 1500m title in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Kipchoge, who is Kenya’s long-distance legendary runner, on Saturday achieved a feat no man has ever achieved in the world by running a full marathon in under two hours in Vienna, Austria.
Kipchoge who is the world’s best marathon runner ever and reigning Olympic champion clocked 1:59.40 in the “INEOS 1:59 Challenge”
Kipchoge now enters the Guinness Book of World Records for running the first sub-two-hour marathon.
However, IAAF, will not recognize the run as an official record because it was not an open competition and use of pacemakers who dint run the full course.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
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.
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.
At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF. Voting for the Male World Athlete of the Year closes on 4 November.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the World Athletics Awards 2019.
The female nominees will be announced on Tuesday.
JK/as/APA