Faith Kipyegon ended her athletic calendar with a bang after winning a coveted global world on Monday, December 11.
Kipyegon was crowned Female World Athlete of the Year in track events by the World Athletics. She bagged the prestigious award after a competitive voting process.
Reacting to the win, Kenya appreciated her fans who helped her scoop the award.
Her year was characterised by wins and shattering records putting her name on the global scene. Kipyegon set records in three distance races.
The 29-year-old improved the world 1500m record to 3:49.11 in Florence, taking almost a full second off the previous mark.
A week later, she improved the world record for that event, too, clocking 14:05.20 in Paris to shave 1.42 seconds from the old record.
Kipyegon’s third record came in Monaco, where she smashed the previous mile mark by five seconds, clocking 4:07.64. Then, in Budapest, she won her third senior world 1500m title and her first world 5000m crown.
Kelvin Kiptum was also crowned Men Athlete of the Year in the Out of Stadia category. Kiptum’s exponential rise came after he smashed a record that was set by Eliud Kipchoge to win the Chicago Marathon.
Kiptum clocked 2:00:35 to win the Chicago marathon.
Other Kenyans who were crowned include Faith Cherotich and Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
The Kenyan teenagers both won medals at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, Cherotich claiming bronze in the 3000m steeplechase and Wanyonyi securing silver in the 800m, World Athletics described their achievements.
By Jerry Njomo
Source-https://www.nairobileo.co.ke/
Faith Kipyegon Crowned Female World Athlete of the Year
