Eliud Kipchoge, Mare Dibaba named AIMS Best Marathon Runners
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba were named the 2015 Association of International Marathons (AIMS) Best Marathon Runner Award winners at an awards gala in Athens, Greece.
Kichoge, 31, won April's London Marathon in a world leading time of 2:04:42. He lowered that mark with his victory at the Berlin Marathon in September as he set a personal best of 2:04:00.
Kipchoge looks to make his third Olympic team in 2016 after winning a bronze medal for the 5,000-meter run at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. He improved upon that medal with a second place finish in the same event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing for silver.
“It is very special for me to have won the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award,” Kipchoge said in a press release. “I am very proud of my achievements this year and this award reflects that.”
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Dibaba, 26, opened the year by winning January's Xiamen Marathon in China with a 2:19:52 performance to make her just the third Ethiopian woman to crack the sub-2:20 barrier. Dibaba also finished second at the Boston Marathon in April. In her third marathon of the year, Dibaba was crowned world champion at the 2015 IAAF World Championships with a 2:27:35 in Beijing.
Dibaba finished 23rd in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
World champion marathoner Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea and Kenya's Gladys Cherono, who has run the fastest women's marathon of the year in 2:19:25 at the Berlin Marathon, were the other finalists.
- Christopher Chavez
