NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 17 – Eliud Kipchoge, the marathon world record holder and the first athlete to break the two-hour mark for a marathon, has become the newest Laureus Sport for Good Ambassador.
The announcement was made on the second anniversary of one of his greatest athletics feats, when Kipchoge ran the fastest time ever in a marathon in Berlin in 2 hrs 1 min 39 secs – breaking the previous record by 78 seconds, the biggest improvement on the marathon world record in 51 years.
Kipchoge, the latest in a long line of distinguished Kenyan long distance runners, and a winner of the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award, also famously became the only athlete to run a marathon in under two hours, recording 1hr 59mins 40secs, in Vienna in October 2019.
The world record holder is now a member of the Laureus Family whose goal is to use the power of sport to change young people’s lives for the better.
He joins a group of more than 200 Laureus Ambassadors and 69 Laureus World Sports Academy Members, all of whom work to support Laureus Sport for Good.
“I am feeling truly glad to be an Ambassador for Laureus. I will be joining great sportsmen and women of this world to share good ideas about sport. On the other hand I will be involved to see how Laureus is helping foundations that benefit the human family. Laureus uses sport to bring communities and individuals together. This will be even more important in the future as we try to rebuild our world for the better. I am really happy to be an Ambassador,” Kipchoge stated.
Olympic legend and Laureus Academy Member Edwin Moses said: “I am delighted to welcome Eliud to Laureus. I know he is passionate about his beliefs and I know he will put in the same amount of commitment to helping us in our work with disadvantaged youth around the world as he does in his marathon running. What he has achieved is frankly amazing. The very first Laureus project, launched 20 years ago, was in Nairobi and it’s great to have Eliud on our team to help us with our work there and in Africa.”
Laureus Sport for Good was created 20 years ago in the aftermath of a remarkable speech by Nelson Mandela at the inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000.
In an interview with Laureus Academy Member and Olympic legend Michael Johnson on Laureus.com, Kipchoge has confirmed his intention to compete in the marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics next year, even though he would be 36.
