Kenyan long distance runner and World Marathon Record holder Eliud Kipchoge was on Monday awarded the Laureus Exceptional Achievement Award, at the Laureus Sports Awards held in Monaco, France.
Kipchoge was awarded for breaking the World Marathon Record by 78 seconds in Berlin, Germany last year.
He becomes the fourth person in the world to receive the Laureus Exceptional Achievement Award.
“I want to thank all my fans across all social media platforms. I want to thank those who love the sport. I want to say only one word, a running world or a sporting world is a peaceful world, a sporting world is a healthy world, a sporting world is a wealthy world, a sporting world is an enjoyable world,” said Kipchoge.
Kipchoge was nominated in the Sportsman of the Year category in Laureus Sports Awards alongside Lewis Hamilton, Kylian Mbappe, LeBron James, Novak Djokovic and Luka Modric. The award was won by Tennis star Novak Djokovic.
Eliud Kipchoge started his athletics career with the 5000 meters race before he switched to Marathon and went on to win the Olympic Marathon in 2016.
Last year, Eliud Kipchoge won the United Nations Kenya Person of the Year Award as well as the International Association of Athletes Federation (IAAF) Male Athlete of the Year Award.