Nairobi, November 11: Kenyan long-distance runner and reigning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge has been shortlisted for the World Male Athlete of the Year award. Kipchoge is among a list of five athletes vying for athletics' top individual award, given out to the season's best performer. The award gala will be held in Monaco next week. "The five athletes, who represent four countries from three area associations, have illustrated excellence across nearly all disciplines in 2019," read a statement released on Monday by World Athletics, according to Xinhua news. Eliud Kipchoge Becomes First Human to Run a Marathon in Under 2 Hours.

Kipchoge will be up against Uganda's world 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei, pole vault world champion Sam Kendricks (USA), his 200m compatriot Noah Lyles and Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm. Kipchoge's performance last season saw him not only win the London Marathon, but also write history by becoming the first man to run the 42km distance in under two hours, clocking a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna last month.

In the women's section, Kenya's world champions Hellen Obiri (5,000m) and Beatrice Chepkoech (3,000m steeplechase) are awaiting confirmation on Tuesday to find out if they have made the final five nominees for the World Female Athlete of the Year award.

"The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans vote online via our social media platforms. The Council's vote counted for 50 percent of the result, while the Athletics Family's votes and the public votes each counted for 25 percent of the final result," the World Athletics said. Voting for the World Male Athlete of the Year closed on November 4.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 12, 2019 09:02 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).