Marathon icon Eliud Kipchoge and World champion Faith Kipyegon were on Friday night awarded at the 19th edition of the 2022 Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA) held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi.
Eliud Kipchoge, Men’s marathon World Record holder won the award ahead of 100m Commonwealth Games and African double gold medalist, Ferdinand Omanyala who came in second as World and Olympic champion, Emmanuel Korir settled for third in the hotly contested category.
Speaking in absentia, the double Olympic champion Kipchoge acknowledged those who voted for him embraced sports and showed sportsmanship.
“I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for those who voted for me, thank you for embracing sports its real sportsmanship, thank you for having me to spread the word of sports and together we can make this country a running one, thank you for the award, I wish everyone a great year of fulfilled goals,” Kipchoge remarked.
On her part, 1500m star, Kipyegon got the better of tennis sensational, Angela Okutoyi, who was named the first runners-up while Commonwealth Games 5000m champion, Beatrice Chebet sealed the third spot.
Kipyegon, who retained the Sportswoman of the Year Award she won last year in Kakamega, said the award will motivate her ahead of the season.
“I am elated to win this award for the second year running, it means a lot to me as I prepared to also defend my world title in Budapest, Hungary. The awards goes along way in encouraging athletes to work hard, it’s good to be recognized,” Kipyegon said.
The theme for 2022 Soya awards was “Our Integrity; Our Pride; Our Sports”, with Former World Rugby Sevens series top try scorer Collins Injera the celebrity guest.
Other dignitaries who attended included Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama and PS State Department for Wildlife Sylvia Museiya.