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Kenya’s marathon superstar Kelvin Kiptum and middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon have been named 2023 Athletes of the Year by an American outlet, LetsRun.com.

This is the second recognition for the Kenyans who were named winners of different categories in the World Athletics honours of the Year. World Athletics decided to name different winners of the award in track, best field, and best out-of-stadia athlete, splitting the usual joint award.

The American publication did not split the awards, in contrast to World Athletics’ procedure, and named Kiptum and Kipyegon as winners of men’s and women’s year awards.

“Our 2023 World Athlete of the Year isn’t a field eventer, though. It’s marathoner Kelvin Kiptum, who basically enjoyed a perfect 2023 campaign,” the publication announced.

Kiptum had an outstanding campaign in 2023, and it was on two occasions that he mastered an impressive show: in the London Marathon in April and in the Chicago Marathon, when he set a new record.

In London, after a 61:40 first half, Kiptum recorded the fastest half-marathon split ever in a marathon, which was 59:45, and during the final 12k of that, he was running all alone.

After the London heroics, he waited for months to feature on the Chicago course and shatter a record set by a marathon great, Eliud Kipchoge.

Kiptum won after running in 2:01:25, taking more than a minute off Kipchoge‘s 2:02:37 course record.

Before Kiptum’s super show in London, no man had won London by more than a minute since 2012.

The Chepkorio-born star had impressive splits as he took on rivals in the Chicago marathon. After a 60:48 first half, he blitzed the second half in 59:47 in Chicago, which was the second-fastest second half ever, behind only his 59:45 in London.

Kipyegon’s season

Meanwhile, Kipyegon’s heroics in the season were also recognised by the publication, which named her the outright female athlete of the year.

“This was not a hard decision. Kipyegon didn’t just have the best season of any athlete in 2023 – she had one of the greatest seasons in the history of the sport,” the publication said.

The 29-year-old opened her season with a Diamond League win in Doha before heading to Florence and setting a new record in the 1500m by clocking 3:49.11 to shave nearly a full second off Genzebe Dibaba’s 3:50.07.

In Paris, a week later, Kipyegon ran for the first time in eight years in 5000m and shattered the record in this discipline too. By running at 14:05.20, she shattered the previous record set by Letesenbet Gidey.

The next assignment for Kipyegon was in Monaco on July 12, where she broke the mile record by running 4:07.64 to take more than four seconds off the previous best.

All these achievements motivated her to go to the World Championships in Budapest in August, where she doubled in 1500m and 5000m. She won gold in both events and became the first woman to sweep the 1500m and 5000m at a global championship.

Kipyegon’s only setback of the season came during the inaugural road race of the World Road Championships in Riga, Latvia, where she settled for bronze.