ELIUD KIPCHOGE, A LEGENDARY KENYAN MARATHONER, RECEIVES SPAIN’S 2023 ASTURIAS PRIZE FOR SPORTS.

Eliud Kipchoge, a Kenyan expert in the marathon, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, according to the Spanish body that oversees the awards.

Kipchoge, 38, who won the 5,000-meter world championship in 2003 and the Olympic marathon gold medal in 2016 and 2020, “is considered a legend in world athletics and the best marathon runner of all time,” according to the foundation panel of judges.

He is referred to as “the philosopher” for his running approach and focus, the foundation emphasized. Ten of the biggest marathons in the world have been won by Kipchoge, including four victories each in Berlin and London.

With a time of 2:01:09 set in Berlin last year, he not only holds the world record for the competition but is also the current Olympic marathon champion. The record he had set for himself in 2018 was cut by 30 seconds thanks to that timing.

Although Kipchoge is the first athlete in history to complete a marathon in under two hours, his time of 1:59:40 from Vienna in 2019 is not legally recognized because the event was planned so that he could receive outside assistance.

One of eight prizes totaling 50,000 euros ($54,000) is given for exceptional work in the humanities, including the arts, communication, science, and literature. The foundation awards them once a year.

The refugee Olympics squad and the Olympic Refugee Foundation took home the 2022 sports honor.

The awards rank among the most significant in Spanish-speaking countries. The award presentation takes place each autumn in Oviedo, a city in northern Spain.