High-flying Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge on Monday night bagged the prestigious Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement award in a ceremony held in Monaco, France.
Record-breaking Kipchoge wasawarded for his stellar athletic display in the last year, including the iconic record-breaking run at the 45th edition of the BMW Berlin Marathon in Germany.
“Sporting is an enjoyable world”
“I would like to thank my fans around the world for all their support. I believe that a running world is a peaceful world, a sporting world is a healthy world and that a sporting world is an enjoyable world,” a jubilant Kipchoge said.
Record breaker
Kipchoge,34, won the Berlin Marathon in September last year in 2:01:39, shaving off 78 seconds from the previous world record set by Kenyan counterpart Dennis Kimetto in 2014.
This was the biggest single improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967.
Nice to mingle
“It means a lot (to be recognised by the Laureus Academy),” Kipchoge added. “It means that I have been making a big impact in this world – to be recognised for exceptional achievement not just in athletics, but in the whole category of sport. It’s nice to mingle with the people from tennis, from basketball, from motor racing, from football, from gymnastics.”
Kipchoge, who was also a finalist for the World Sportsman of the Year award which was clinched by Tennis sensational Novak Djokovic, is now preparing to defend his title in London in April.
Kipchoge is the reigning Male Sportsman of the year.
It’s going well,” he said. “I want to win London for the fourth time.”