Nairobi — World record holder for the women's marathon, Ruth Chepng'etich, and her compatriot for the women's 10km, Agnes Ngetich have been nominated for World Athletics' Out of Stadium Female Athlete of the Year award.
The two will battle out with three other athletes who are similarly deserving of the award in their own right: Olympic marathon champion Sifan Hassan; and Ethiopian pair of Tigist Ketema and Sutume Kebede.
An award for Chepng'etich will be the perfect icing on the cake after she clocked a world record of 2:09:56 to win the Chicago Marathon for the third time.
The 2019 World marathon champion, consequently, made history as the first female runner to clock a sub-2:10 in the 42km.
Equally eager to crown a successful year with the award is Ngetich who began 2024 with a bang.
The 23-year-old clocked a world record of 28:46 at the Valencia Ibercaja 10km road race in January.
She essentially etched her name in record books by becoming the first to ever run that distance under 29 minutes.
That feat came less than four months after she had clocked a women-only world record of 29:24 at the Trunsylvania 10km race in Romania.
Ngetich's latest achievement is victory at the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday where she clocked 1:03:04 to win the women's race, ahead of Ethiopia's Fotyen Tesfay (1:03:21) and another Kenyan, Lilian Kasait (1:03:32), in second and third respectively.
Sifan the superwoman
Notwithstanding the rich resume of the Kenyan duo, it would be foolhardy to dismiss the achievements of the other nominees.
Dutchwoman Hassan has been the epitome of bravery and consistency as exhibited at this year's Paris Olympics where she competed in three events - 5000m, 10,000m and women's marathon.
Having won bronze in the first two races, Hassan saved the best for last when she overtook then world record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia in the last 100 metres to win gold in the women's marathon.
This was impressive for a 30-year-old who had made her 42km debut a year earlier at the London Marathon, going on to win in 2:18:33.
She then broke the course record for the Chicago Marathon, clocking 2:13:44 on her way to victory.
From queenmaker to queen?
On the other hand, Ketema, has blossomed from a pacemaker -- to Kenya's Faith Kipyegon -- into one to watch in the women's marathon in years to come.
The 26-year-old clocked 2:16:07 to win the Dubai Marathon in January, which was the fastest time ever by a marathon debutant.
She followed it up with victory at the Berlin Marathon, stopping the timer at 2:16:42.
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It would seem the 2017 Africa Under 20 champion learned a thing or two from pacemaking for Kipyegon when the triple Olympic champion broke the world record for the women's 5000m at the Paris Diamond League in June last year.
Her compatriot, Kebede, has also been steadily rising as one of the formidable road runners to watch.
She ran 1:04:37 to win the Houston Half Marathon in January - the second fastest time for the 21km on American soil - before clinching the Tokyo Marathon in March.
Voting on social media is ongoing until November 3 with announcement of the winners set for December 1 at an awards gala in Monaco.
