World Marathon Legend Eliud Kipchoge has won the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for sports. Kipchoge, 38, is considered a legend in world athletics and the best marathon runner of all time.
Kipchoge took Olympic gold medals in the marathon in 2016 and 2020 and was world 5,000 meters champion in 2003.
He is the current Olympic marathon champion and holds the world record for the discipline, with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 9 seconds set in Berlin last year. That timing lowered by 30 seconds the record he himself had set in 2018.
Due to his significant contribution to the world of sports, he was awarded Sh 7.4 million. Kipchoge took to social media to congratulate himself, describing the recognition as a motivator for him to leave a legacy in the world of running.
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“It is an absolute honor to receive the Princess of Asturias Award. To be amongst a list of extraordinary laureates, all people from different walks of life,’’
“It motivates me in my goal to leave a legacy in this world through running since a running world is a more peaceful world, a happier world, and a more healthy world,” he stated.
Kipchoge made history as the first man to run a marathon in under two hours when he clocked 1:59:40 at the “Ineos 1:59 Challenge” on October 12 in Vienna, Austria.
His time was, however, not recognized as a world marathon record since it was not a World Athletics-certified and rated course.