Kenyan Athlete Kipchoge Receives Laureus Award

Kenyan athlete and the IAAF’s World Male Athlete of the Year Eliud Kipchoge was this week honoured by the Laureus Awards with an Exceptional Achievement Award. 

Kipchoge travelled to Monaco for the ceremony earlier this week where his achievements over the past year were recognised, including his performance at the Berlin marathon in September 2018 when he broke the world record by 78 seconds with a time of 2:01:39. 

The Exceptional Achievement Award is a discretionary award that has only been awarded three times previously, in 2013 to Michael Phelps, in 2015 to Li Na and in 2018 to Francesco Totti for their achievements in the field of swimming, tennis and football respectively.

Following presentation of the award, Kipchoge stated, "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."

Kipchoge is currently preparing for the London marathon in April 2019. In 2018 he finished out in front with a time of 2:04:17 and has won the London marathon of three previous occasions.