Kenyan trio in running for coveted World Athletics awards

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 28 – Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, Ruth Chepngetich and Agnes Ngetich will be out to close the year on a high after they were nominated for the World Athletics Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year awards.

Kipruto, the reigning Tokyo Marathon champion, has been nominated in the male category where he faces stiff competition from Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, Ecuador’s Brian Pintado and the Ethiopian pair of Tamirat Tola and Yomilf Kejelcha.

The 33-year-old was an ever-present on the podium in all the competitions he featured in this year – carrying on the trend from 2021.

Kipruto clocked a course record of 2:02:16 to win the Tokyo Marathon in March before bagging bronze at the Paris Olympics after running 2:07:00 – in what was his debut at the competition.

Other titles to Kipruto’s name include Prague (2021), Boston (2021) and Chicago (2022).

He will be hoping that his consistent strong performances are enough to earn him the top gong ahead of other nominees who have equally stood out in the road running universe.

Ethiopian Kejelcha has just smashed the world record for the men’s half marathon, clocking 57:30 on his way to victory at the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday.

On the other hand, Tola justified his last-minute inclusion in his nation’s team to Paris when he clocked 2:06:26 to win gold in the men’s marathon.

The 33-year-old also won the men’s marathon title at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, following it up with victory at last year’s New York Marathon where he set a course record of 2:04:58.

Meanwhile, immediate former half marathon world record holder Kiplimo successfully defended his World Cross Country crown in Belgrade, Serbia in March.  

The 23-year-old then bounced back from a disappointing outing at the Olympics to claim a second-place finish at the Copenhagen Half Marathon – clocking 58:09.

As far as resilience and progress is concerned, Pintado is the definition of it.

The Ecuadorian finally landed his coveted Olympic gold in the men’s 20km racewalk in Paris, applying the gloss over a successful campaign with silver in the marathon racewalk mixed relay.

Pintado finished 37th in the men’s 20km racewalk at the 2016 Olympics in Rio before ending up 12th at the next edition of the games in Tokyo in 2021.

Battle of world record holders

The women’s category will be equally interesting with Chepngetich and Ngetich facing off with the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan and Ethiopian duo of Tigist Ketema and Sutume Kebede.

Having made Chicago her stomping ground, Chepngetich returned to the World Marathon Majors in style, setting a world record of 2:09:56 to win the women’s race for the third time.

The 30-year-old wrote her name in history as the first female runner to clock a sub-2:10.

Her feat in Chicago came only a month after she set a course record of 1:05:58 at the Buenos Aires Half Marathon in Argentina.

Ruth Chepngetich crosses the finish line to win the Chicago Marathon. PHOTO/WORLD ATHLETICS

Joining her in the world record holders’ club is fellow Kenyan, Ngetich, who began the year in scintillating form at the Valencia Ibercaja 10km race in Spain.

Ngetich made history as the first female runner to run 10km in under 29 minutes, clocking a new world record of 28:46 on that occasion.

It came less than four months after she had set women-only record of 29:24 at the Trunsylvania 10km race in Romania.

On Sunday, she continued her winning run with victory at the Valencia Half Marathon where she clocked 1:03:04.

Nonetheless, it won’t be a walk in the park for the Kenyan duo who will have to contend with Hassan who continued her fairytale transition to road running since her winning debut at last year’s London Marathon.

The Dutchwoman has been indefatigable, competing in three events at the Paris Olympics and clinching podium in all of them.

Agnes Ngetich in a previous race.

She bagged bronze in the 5000m and 10,000m before outsprinting Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa to win gold in the women’s marathon on the last day.

Ketema and Kebede are two of the fastest rising female marathoners and will be fancying their chances at the award.

Ketema – who was pacemaker for Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon when she broke the world record for the women’s 5000m at last year’s Paris Diamond League – began the year with a bang in Dubai.

Her time of 2:16:07 on her way to victory in that race was the fastest ever by a female marathon debutant.

The 2017 Africa Under 20 champion then clocked 2:16:42 to win the Berlin Marathon in September.

On the other hand, Kebede clocked a course record of 1:04:37 to win the Houston Half Marathon in January, which is also the fastest for that distance on American soil.  

She then won the Tokyo Marathon in March, stopping the timer at 2:15:55.

Voting for both categories are ongoing until November 3 (Sunday) ahead of the awards gala in Monaco on December 1.

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