This archive report was first published on 12 January 2020.
Kenyan sports stars Eliud Kipchoge and Michael Olunga are the front runners for the prestigious 2019 Safaricom Sportsman of the Year award, announced on January 12, 2020.
According to the organizers, all four nominees for the award are track athletes, with the other two being world 1,500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot and Olympic and world 3,000m steeplechase champions Conseslus Kipruto and Geoffrey Kamworor.
Michael Olunga, 25, had a remarkable year, starring for Kenya at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and helping his Kashiwa Reysol gain promotion to the Japanese top flight league.
He scored crucial goals for Harambee Stars during the 3-2 victory over Tanzania in Egypt and also impressed with 29 goals and nine assists in 33 appearances for Kashiwa Reysol.
Eliud Kipchoge, 10 years older than Olunga, also had an incredible year, winning the London marathon in a course record time of 2:02.37 and becoming the first man to run the 42km road race in less than two hours at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.
