Kipchoge Edges Closer To Be Crowned IAAF Male Athlete Of The Year

NAIROBI, Kenya- Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge could yet end a phenomenal year as the 2018 IAAF World Male Athlete of the Year after making the final shortlist announced on Tuesday.

In a statement, the world governing body confirmed that Kipchoge made the line up that has five athletes, who represent five countries from four Area associations who have illustrated excellence across nearly all athletics disciplines in 2018.

He will bid to become the second Kenyan of any gender after David Rudisha who carried the honours in 2010 to be crowned the best athlete at the December 4 IAAF World Gala in Monaco.

Christian Coleman (United States), Armand Duplantis (Sweden), Kevin Mayer (France) and Abderrahman Samba (Qatar) are the other final nominees from the long list of 10 published by the IAAF last month.

Kipchoge who set a new world marathon record of 2:01:39 at the BMW Berlin Marathon in September, joins compatriot and fellow standard bearer in the 3000m steeplechase, Beatrice Chepkoech, who made the final shortlist of the Female Athlete of the Year on Monday.

Since IAAF rolled out their long list for the Male Athlete of the Year, Kipchoge has been honoured as the UN Person of the Year as well as the AIMS Male Marathoner of the Year, placing him in good stead to receive the coveted prize in his sport.

In a season where he cemented himself as arguably the Greatest of All Time in the Marathon, Kipchoge stood out for his astonishing performance in Berlin where he posted the biggest improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967.

Earlier in the year, he came to within eight seconds of the previous standard held by countryman Dennis Kimetto of 2:02:57 when he won the London Marathon in April.