Olympic Champion Eliud Kipchoge may become the third man in history to win the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year award three times or more after he made the final shortlist of five for the 2021 award.
The Olympic Champion and Marathon World Record holder won the award in 2018 and 2019. Only Moroccan 1500m legend Hicham El Guerrouj (3) and Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt (6) have won the award thrice or more times.
Eliud Kipchoge has made the final shortlist alongside fellow Global Sports teammate Joshua Cheptegei who is looking for his first ever award after a stellar 2021 campaign.
While Kipchoge only competed in two events in 2021; the NN Athletics Marathon Day and the Olympic Games in Sapporo Japan, winning both, Cheptegei walked away from Tokyo with two medals.
He secured gold in the 5,000m becoming the first ever Ugandan to win the race, as well as silver in the 10,000m race.
The two East African athletics heavyweights will duel for the award alongside Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis who won the award last year. Apart from the Olympic Games, Duplantis also won the Diamond League Trophy and European Indoor title.
Also making the final shortlist of five is Olympic shotput champion Ryan Courser and Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm.