KIPCHOGE AND IBARGUEN NAMED IAAF ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Kenya’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and Colombian jumper Caterine Ibarguen were honoured as IAAF athletes of the year at athletics’ annual awards ceremony on Tuesday.

Olympic champion Kipchoge shattered the world marathon record by 78 seconds as he completed the Berlin Marathon in two hours, one minute and 39 seconds while Ibarguen was the Diamond League champion in both the long jump and triple jump.

Both are first-time winners of the award.

Kipchoge’s performance marked the biggest improvement in the marathon record since Australian Derek Clayton took almost two and a half minutes off the mark in 1967.

The 34 year old Kenyan also won the London Marathon in 2018.

He also missed by 26 seconds breaking the magical two-hour barrier when he crossed the line in 2:00.25 in a special race on the Monza circuit in Italy in 2017 that was not eligible for record purposes.