Kelvin Kiptum shortlisted for Men’s Athlete of Year Award

By Peter Ochieng

World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum will contest for the 2023 Men’s World Athlete of the Year Award.

The 23-year-old Kenyan long-distance runner is among five finalists shortlisted for the prestigious award.

In order to be crowned winner, he will have to ‘negotiate a corner’ against world 100 and 200-meter champion Noah Lyles of the United States of America (USA), world pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, world shotput champion Ryan Crouser of USA and world javelin champion Neeraj Chopra of India.

The winner will be announced on 11th December, 2023 in Monaco, France.

Kelvin Kiptum claimed the overall winner of this year’s World Marathon Majors (WMM) series, after victories in the London marathon in April and in the Chicago marathon in October.

It was in Chicago that he smashed the men's marathon world record. He ran for two hours and 35 seconds, becoming the first man to run a competitive marathon in under two hours and one minute.

He broke Eliud Kipchoge’s record of 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, achieved during the Berlin marathon in September 2022.

The two Kenyans are yet to compete against each other. However, that may change when they clash at the Paris Olympics in France, in 2024.

Whereas the 38-year-old Kipchoge is racing towards retirement, his compatriot, Kiptum has a long career ahead of him.