“This award means a lot to me. It’s a tribute to the hard work that I’ve put in during my career.” – Eliud Kipchoge.
Kenyan record-breaking marathon athlete Eliud Kipchoge and Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen have been honoured as the 2018 IAAF men and female winners at the athletics’ annual awards ceremony on Tuesday.
Kipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin in September clocking 2:01:39. “His time in the German capital was 78 seconds faster than the previous world record, representing the biggest single improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967,” said IAAF statement.
Kipchoge’s victory marked the biggest improvement in the marathon record since Australian Derek Clayton took almost two and a half minutes off the mark in 1967.
The New York Times said “Eliud Kipchoge Is the Greatest Marathoner, Ever” for dominating the marathon race since his debut in Hamburg in 2013 after a successful track career that saw him win world gold and silver (2003, 2007) in the 5 000m and Olympic silver and bronze (2008, 2004) over the same distance.
“This award means a lot to me. It’s a tribute to the hard work that I’ve put in during my career,” said Eliud Kipchoge.
Ibarguen was the Diamond League champion in both the long jump and triple jump. “She was unbeaten in all eight of her triple jump competitions, ending the year with a world-leading mark of 14.96m in her specialist event and a national record of 6.93m in the long jump.”
