Missing Olympics podium could hurt Kiplimo, again

Going by his reaction after the men's 10000-metre final during the Paris Olympics in early August, it is right to say Jacob Kiplimo is not a satisfied man about 2024.

A slip up from the top three places to finish a distant eighth inside the Stade de France never went down well with Kiplimo. The 23-year-old wanted to win a medal over the 25-lap distance.

And to add that Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha broke Kiplimo's world record over the 21km distance by a second to 57 minutes and 30 seconds, the Ugandan long-distance runner can't be impressed.

However, Kiplimo began the week with some goods after he was named on the five-man shortlist for the Men's Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year award by World Athletics.

Kiplimo was nominated thanks to his biggest achievement of the year - a successful defence of his senior men's 10km title during the World Athletics Cross-country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia back in March.

Known for his proficiency on the road, Kiplimo retained his title by producing a commanding finish over the final 2km stretch of a tedious course at the Park of Friendship, winning in 28 minutes and nine seconds on March 30.

Kiplimo had anticipated better in Paris only to leave the French capital empty-handed in the summer. He however has scored highly on the road; winning the Valencia 10K in Spain on January 14, the National Cross-country title in Tororo on February 10 and then second place at the Copenhagen Half-Marathon in Denmark on September 15.

The reigning 5000-metre and 10000-metre Commonwealth champion Kiplimo has one more stage to impress before the year closes - at the Seven Hills Run or NN Zevenheuvelenloop - where he bids to retain his title in Nijmegen, Netherlands on November 17.

This is the second he has been nominated for an award by World Athletics but he is up against tough competition. Kiplimo's first challenger is Kejelcha who set the 21km world half marathon record in Valencia a week ago. Kejelcha, 27, also posted a world 10km lead of 26:37 while winning the Laredo 10K in Spain on March 16.

Besides Kiplimo and Kejelcha, the other three nominees are selected on the basis of appearance at the podium during the Paris Olympics, which could be key in the voting.

First, Kenyan Benson Kipruto is bidding to emulate his deceased country-mate and 2023 winner Kelvin Kiptum after he won the Tokyo Marathon in Japan before bagging Olympic marathon bronze.

However, that could be eclipsed by Tamirat Tola, who became the first Ethiopian in 24 years to win the Olympic marathon gold. Also a 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, Tola won in Paris with class, conquering a trick course with an Olympic record mark of two hours, six minutes and 26 seconds.

Kiplimo's other challenger is Ecuadorian Brian Daniel Pintado who bagged Olympic 20km race walk gold as well as Olympic marathon race walk mixed relay silver.

The voting by fans across the globe for this award has been World Athletics social media platforms with each individual 'like' on Facebook or Instagram and each repost on X/Twitter counting as one vote and it closes today.

However, social media fan voting accounts for 25 percent of the result, with the World Athletics Council (50 per cent) and World Athletics Family (25 per cent) also voting.

2024 WORLD ATHLETICS AWARDS

Men's Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year Nominees: Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda), Yomif Kejelcha (Ethiopia), Benson Kipruto (Kenya), Brian Daniel Pintado (Ecuador), Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia)  

KIPLIMO AT A GLANCE

Date of birth: November 14, 2000

Major events: 5000m, 10000m, Half-Marathon

Coach: Iacorpo Brasi

Personal Bests: 12:40.96 (5000m), 26:33.93 (10000m), 57:31 (21km)

Manager: Federico Rosa

Management: Rosa Associati

KIPLIMO AT MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

2024 Paris Olympics: 8th (10000m Final)

2024 World Cross-country: 1st (Senior Men’s 10km) 

2023 World Cross-country: 1st (Senior Men’s 10km) 

2022 Commonwealth Games: 1st (5000m Final)

2022 Commonwealth Games: 1st (10000m Final)

2022 Eugene World Champs: 3rd (10000m Final)

2020 Tokyo Olympics: 5th (5000m Final)

2020 Tokyo Olympics: 3rd (10000m Final)

2020 World Half-Marathon Champs: 1st (Men’s 21km)

2019 World Cross-country: 2nd (Senior Men’s 10km)

2018 World Jnr Champs: 2nd (10000m), 6th (5000m)

2018 Commonwealth Games: 4th (10000m)

2017 London World Champs: 22nd (10000m Heats)

2017 World Cross-country: 1st (Junior Men’s 8km)

2016 Rio Olympics: 26th (5000m Heats)

2016 World Jnr Champs: 3rd (10000m)