#KOT, let us vote a Kenyan for world award

We all know that the only Kenyan to have won the IAAF Athlete of the Year award was two-time Olympic 800m champion, David Rudisha, back in 2011.

But this doesn’t mean we can’t do it again. The secret is always in the voting and we must use this opportunity to ensure Kenyans fly the country’s flag high in the December 4 event in Monaco.

Previously, we have sat back and waited for a miracle to happen while assuming that this is the “Home of Champions”.

This is not how this award works and for once, we need to do things the right way. It is simple: We vote, a Kenyan will win, we don’t, the award goes elsewhere.

There is no point to cry foul later after failing to vote because the results will not change.

Active Kenyans on Twitter (#KOT) and other social media forums are known to strongly express themselves on these forums on an issue they feel strongly about.

They can do the same by voting online for a Kenyan to win the world award.

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge smashed the world record at the Berlin Marathon by clocking 2:01:39 in September. Kipchoge’s feat is the biggest improvement on the world record in the 42km distance since 1967.

He also bagged the London marathon crown in April and is the reigning Olympic Marathon champion and record holder.

Africa 800m silver medallist Emmanuel Korir and Commonwealth Games 1,500m silver medallist, Timothy Cheruiyot are also listed for the award.

Korir, a student at University of El Paso, Texas, clocked the fastest time this year in the event at the Diamond League in London, where he posted 1:42.05 in July and anchored the Kenyan 4x400m relay team to the gold medal at the Africa Championships in Asaba, Nigeria in August.

Cheruiyot has world leads in the 1,500m (3:28.41) in Monaco and the mile (3:49.64) set in Oregon in May at the Prefontaine Classic.

He also won silver in the 1,500m race in Asaba. World 3000m steeplechase record holder, Beatrice Chepkoech, is the sole Kenyan in the women’s awards lists.

She clocked 8:44.32 to set a new world record in the water jump event in Monaco in July, erasing the previous mark of 8:52.78 set by Ruth Jebet of Bahrain two years ago in Paris.

She also bagged the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1,500 in Gold Coast, Australia and won seven out of eight steeplechase finals including the Continental Cup in Ostrava, African Championships in Asaba and Diamond League. Let’s vote Kenyans, the award is ours for the taking.