Kipyegon, Kiptum among top 100 most influential Africans
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon holds her World Athletics Female Track Athlete of the Year trophy in Monaco on December 11, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Other Kenyans featuring in the top 100 are President William Ruto, Equity Bank Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi, historian Chao Maina, Climate Strategist James Irungu, Environmentalist Wanjira Maathai, celebrity chef Ali Mandhry and filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu
- Kipyegon made history as the first woman to claim a double in 1,500m and 5,000m at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary besides breaking three world records in 1,500m, One Mile and 5,000m within a span of two months
- Kipyegon was named Female World Athlete of the Year in track events while Kiptum claimed Male World Athlete of the Year out of stadia events by World Athletics last year
Multi-track world champion and record holder Faith Kipyegon and marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum are among 100 most influential Africans of 2023.
The Kenyan athletes were ranked by the influential New African Magazine, the best selling Pan-African magazine.
Other Kenyans featuring in the top 100 are President William Ruto, Equity Bank Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi, historian Chao Maina, Climate Strategist James Irungu, Environmentalist Wanjira Maathai, celebrity chef Ali Mandhry and filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu.
Kipyegon made history as the first woman to claim a double in 1,500m and 5,000m at the World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary besides breaking three world records in 1,500m, One Mile and 5,000m within a span of two months.
Kipyegon was named Female World Athlete of the Year in track events while Kiptum claimed Male World Athlete of the Year out of stadia events by World Athletics last year.
Kipyegon broke the 1,500m record previously held by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba of 3:50:07 after she clocked 3:49:11 at the Florence Diamond League in Italy on June 2.
A week later, she was at it again after she once again broke the 5,000m record where she lowered Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey’s record of 14:06.62 to 14:05.20 at the Paris Diamond League in France on June 9. The record has since been broken by Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay who clocked 14:00.21 at the Eugene Diamond League.
On July 21 at Monaco Diamond League, she added another world record to her name after she won the One Mile race, clocking 4:07.64, beating the previous record held by Dutch’s Sifan Hassan of 4:12.33 set at the same venue in 2019.
Kiptum became the first man to run under two hours and one minute when he clocked 2:00:35 to win the Chicago Marathon on October 8 last year, lowering Eliud Kipchoge’s record of 2:01:49.
Kiptum had also broke Kipchoge’s London Marathon course record, winning in the British capital in 2:01:25 on April 23, last year.
