Kipchoge gets top IAAF honour

– Kenyan marathon master Eliud Kipchoge (above) and Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen respectively won the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) men and women’s 2018 awards on Tuesday.

Kipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin in September, smashing the previous best by an incredible 78 seconds as he clocked 2hr 1min 39sec. That was the largest single improvement since Derek Clayton improved the mark by 2:23 in 1967.

“This award means a lot to me,” said Kipchoge, crediting his children as being his “ignition key”. “It’s a tribute to the hard work I’ve put in during my career.”

Ibarguen won both horizontal jumps at the Central American and Caribbean Games, the IAAF Continental Cup and IAAF Diamond League finals. –

Monaco