Eliud Kipchoge honoured with Exceptional Achievement award

Eliud Kipchoge honoured with Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement award [Courtesy]

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Male Athlete of the Year and Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge was on Monday night, February 18, honoured with the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement award in a ceremony held in Monaco, France.  

The 34-year-old was given the award for his exemplary performances in the past year – notably his record-breaking run at the 45^th edition of the BMW Berlin Marathon in Germany.  

“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.

The Male Sportsman of the Year 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.

Kipchoge broke the world record in the Berlin Marathon last year [Courtesy]

This was the biggest single improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967.

“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.”

“It means a lot to be recognised" - Kipchoge [Courtesy]

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.

It’s going well,” he said. “I want to win London for the fourth time.”