Three Kenyan runners have been included in the star-studded list for the Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year award,
Women’s world marathon record holder Ruth Chepngetich and the reigning 10km (mixed) road race world record holder Agnes Ngetich are some of the biggest names on the shortlist released on Monday by the World Athletics.
Chepngetich and Ngetich will battle it out for the top prize in the female category alongside the likes of Ethiopian duo of Sutume Kebede and the recently crowned Berlin Marathon champion Tigist Ketema.
Dutch runner Sifan Hassan, who won a Gold medal in the Paris Olympic Games in August, is also in contention.
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In the male category, Benson Kipruto is the only Kenyan athlete who has made it to the list. Kipruto won the Tokyo Marathon title earlier this year beating the likes of former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge in the process.
Besides that, the Kapsabet-based runner also secured a bronze medal for Kenya in the Paris Olympic Games.
Kipruto is joined in the list by the current Olympic Games champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and his fellow countryman Yomif Kejelcha.
Kejelcha ran a 10km world lead in March before recently setting a new half marathon world record of 57:30 last weekend in Valencia.
The final two nominees in the list are Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo and Ecuadorian race walker Brian Daniel Pintado.
The latter had an excellent season that saw him win the coveted 20km race walk Olympic title as well as a silver in the mixed relay.
On the other hand, Kiplimo defended his World Athletics Cross Country Champions title in Belgrade and registered several other outstanding performances in road races.
Athletic fans can vote for their stars by visiting the World Athletics social media pages including Facebook, Instagram, and X with the voting process expected to close on November 3.
Athlete of the Year 2024 nominees
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