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Olympic marathon champion and World Marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has been named the 2019 World Athletics Male Athlete of the year.
The Kenyan runner has been voted the world Athlete of the year for the second year in a row on Saturday in the World Athletics Awards 2019.
The 35 year old Eliud Kipchoge beat other four contestants including our own Joshua Cheptegei to retain the award he won last year.
Kipchoge won the London marathon with a record of 2 hours. He also covered a distance of 42km in Vienna’s park Austria with 1 hour and 59 minutes becoming the first man in history to break the two hour barrier.
Through a video interview, Kipchoge said;
I am really happy for making history. I hope it will be a big inspiration for the next generation.
Dalilah Muhammad who won the world 400m hurdles championship was voter the female athlete of the year.
The American track and field athlete has broken the 400m track world record twice this year.
Previous winners for the last 10 years
2009
Male – Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Female – Sanya Richards (US)
2010
Male – David Rudisha (Kenya)
Female – Blanka Vlasic (Croatia)
2011
Male – Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Female – Sally Pearson (Australia)
2012
Male – Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Female – Allyson Felix (US)
2013
Male – Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Female – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica)
2014
Male – Renaud Lavillenie (France)
Female – Valerie Adams (New Zealand)
2015
Male – Ashton Eaton (US)
Female – Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia)
2016
Male – Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Female – Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia)
2017
Male – Mutaz Essa Barshim
Female – Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium)
2018
Male – Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya)
Female – Caterine Ibargüen (Colombia)
2019
Male – Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya)
Female – Dalilah Muhammad (US)
