World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has once again been nominated for the 2022 Men’s World Athlete of the Year award.
Kipchoge was shortlisted for the lucrative award for smashing his own record in the Berlin Marathon held last month as well as winning the Tokyo Marathon in March.
The multiple Olympic champion over the distance lowered his world record when he coasted to victory in the German capital on September 26, clocking 2:01:09 to shave thirty seconds from his previous record that stood at two hours, a minute and thirty-nine seconds.
Before shattering the record, the decorated marathoner had cruised to victory in Tokyo in a course record of 2:02:40 and just seven months after defending his Olympic title in the streets of Sapporo, Japan.
The 37-year-old who dreams of completing the Grand Slam of Marathon Majors victories before calling it a day wrapped the year in style, lowering his personal best in Berlin to be considered for the award.
He has won the London Marathon four times so is the Berlin race.
The G.O.A.T (The Greatest of All Time) has tasted victory once in Tokyo and Chicago meaning that he is left with the New York City and Boston Marathons to conquer.
Kipchoge who will be hoping to lay hands on the award for the third time has been pitted against nine more athletes who had outstanding performances in the year.
Kipchoge, previously won the award in 2018 and 2019 becoming the second male Kenyan to clinch the award after the 800m record holder David Rudisha who claimed it in 2010.
While Kipchoge will be hunting for his third title, World 3000m Steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco who is on the list of nominated will be bidding to become the fourth African to win the award.
Apart from Kipchoge, other African athletes who have won the award before include the second-fastest marathoner Kenenisa Bekele and legendary Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie.
