- Cybrian Kotut is the younger brother to the multiple London Marathon champion Martin Lel.
- Lel won a gold medal for Kenya in the 2003 World Half Marathon Championships.
- Benson Kipruto and his elder brother Dickson Kipruto have won several major marathon titles.
By Tony Kipkorir
Some brilliant sportspersons in the universe have had the privilege of competing alongside or against their siblings.
From footballers Kevin-Prince Boateng and Jerome Boateng to tennis superstars Serena Williams and Venus Williams, these athletes have shown that talent can be a familiar affair.
The Kenyan football sector has also witnessed a number of blood relatives compete and even represent the country in international events.
An excellent example of such sportspersons are the legendary footballers Victor Mugubi Wanyama and McDonald Mariga who played for the men’s national team Harambee Stars.
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Mariga entered into history books as the first Kenyan to lift the prestigious UEFA Champions League trophy with Italian heavyweights Inter Milan while Wanyama is the only Kenyan to have played in the English Premier League.
Beside the duo, Kenya has also been blessed with siblings who have attained incredible success in the men’s marathon field.
Here are the two sets of brothers that have managed to secure podium place finishes in the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
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Cybrian Kotut and Martin Lel
Cybrian Kotut, who finished second in the 2024 Berlin Marathon last Sunday, is the younger brother to London marathon specialist Martin Lel.
Lel and Kotut were born in 1978 and 1992 respectively in Kapsabet, a popular town domiciled in Nandi County.
Lel was a force to reckon with in long distance races at the start of the 21st century, winning numerous titles.
Some of the notable wins in his impressive career that lasted for over 10 years include three London Marathon titles (2005, 2007 and 2008) and two New York City Marathon titles (2003 and 2007).
Lel also managed to register third position twice in the tough Boston Marathon course.
Apart from the individual trophies, the athlete who Kenyan Gen Zs know very little about, bagged a gold medal for Kenya in the 2003 World Half Marathon Champions and finished fifth in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
On the other hand, besides finishing second in Berlin, Kotut has previously won the 2016 Paris Marathon and 2022 Hamburg Marathon.
Benson Kipruto and Dickson Chumba
Interestingly, the other set of brothers who have flown the Kenyan flag high in international competitions were also born in Nandi County.
Aside from sharing the same parents, Kipruto and Chumba have also managed to win the coveted Tokyo Marathon titles in their careers.
Chumba, who was born in 1986, has two Tokyo Marathon titles under his name (2014 and 2018) while Kipruto has one (2024).
Chumba also managed to clinch a Chicago Marathon title (2015) in his career and finished third and second in the 2014 and 2016 editions respectively.
Meanwhile, Kipruto was the winner of the 2021 Boston Marathon and 2022 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
The 33-year-old also finished third in the 2022 and 2023 Boston Marathon editions and claimed a silver medal in the 2023 Chicago Marathon edition.
His latest race was at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games where he overcame the hilly course and unfavorable weather to win a bronze medal for Kenya.
ALSO READ: SportPesa launch revolutionary Tujiamini Initiative to nurture talent
Tujiamini is an initiative that seeks to provide a platform, including up to 30M shillings in funding, for individual, team sports and various talent, in a year-long campaign that will go around the country in a move aimed at evoking the sense of pride in Kenya’s sports and talent ecosystem.
Applicants are urged to submit their applications through www.tujiamini.co.ke