Nairobi — Kenya's Benson Kipruto has been nominated for World Athletics Out of Stadium Male Athlete of the Year award.
The Tokyo Marathon champion will contest the award with four other road runners including Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, Ecuadorian Brian Pintado and the Ethiopian pair of Yomilf Kejelcha and Tamirat Tola.
Kipruto has over the years established himself as one of the best marathoners in the world with consistent podium finishes in major races.
He clinched the 2021 Boston Marathon in 2:09:51, following on from his earlier victory at the Prague Marathon where he clocked 2:10:16 in May of the same year.
Although he relinquished his Boston the following year -- having clocked 2:07:27 to finish third -- the 33-year-old triumphed at the Chicago Marathon in 2:04:24.
Last year, Kipruto finished third once again in Boston (2:06:06) and second in Chicago, although he lowered his time to 2:04:02.
His light continued to shine brighter in 2024 when he set a course record of 2:02:16 to win the Tokyo Marathon in March.
An Olympic debut at the summer games in Paris soon followed and Kipruto crowned his season with bronze after clocking 2:07:00 to finish third.
Tola standing tall
Standing between Kipruto and the award will be Tola whose medal collection includes gold and silver at the 2022 and 2017 World Championships in Eugene and London respectively.
After a largely quiet 2024, the Ethiopian burst to life at the Paris Olympics where he stormed to marathon gold in 2:06:26.
Tola had been added to his nation's team due to a last-minute injury to Sisay Lemma.
The 33-year-old also won last year's New York Marathon in a course record of 2:04:58.
His fellow countryman, Kejelcha, will be hoping that his newly-set half marathon world record has done enough to sway the votes in his favour.
The 27-year-old clocked 57:30 on his way to victory at the Valencia Half Marathon on October 27 -- shaving one second off the previous record by Kiplimo.
It was an apt way for Kejelcha to bounce back after leaving the Paris Olympics empty-handed -- with only a fifth-place finish in the men's 10,000m to show for.
A great of the game
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A disappointing Paris Olympics notwithstanding, Ugandan Kiplimo has done more than enough to warrant the 'GOAT' tag as far as road running is concerned.
The 23-year-old transcends the boundaries of athletics -- cross country, track and road running -- as exhibited when he successfully defended his cross country title at the global competition in Belgrade, Serbia.
Having finished a disappointing eighth in the men's 10,000m at the Paris Olympics, Kiplimo redeemed himself with second place at the Copenhagen Half Marathon after clocking 58:09.
With a crowded trophy cabinet that includes four world cross country titles, two Commonwealth Games title, and one world half marathon crown, it would be delusional to rule out more victories from Kiplimo.
Meanwhile, Pintado reached the pinnacle of his journey as a racewalker, winning gold in the 20km racewalk in Paris before topping it off with silver in the marathon race walk mixed relay.
It was the third Olympics for the World silver medalist who finished 37th at his debut in Rio de Janeiro before coming 12th in Tokyo 2020.
Voting ends on November 3, ahead of an awards gala in Monaco on December 1 to announce the winner.
