… Jamaican Brittany Anderson recognised

 PIONEERING marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge and U.S. hurdler Dalilah Muhammad were named the world athletes of the year in track and field at a ceremony in Monaco yesterday.

At the Awards ceremony, Jamaican Brittany was presented with a plaque for breaking the World Under-20 100-metre hurdles record.

Anderson, who won gold in the event at the 2017 World Under-18 Championships, twice broke the record at the Motonet Grand Prix in Joensuu, Finland on July 24.

The 18-year-old clocked 12.79 in her heat before winning the final in 12.71 seconds.

Kipchoge was winning the award after he became the first man to run a sub-two-hour marathon, though the feat wasn’t officially recognised as a world record.

That’s because he ran on his own, with a rotating group of pacemakers and in strictly controlled conditions. Kipchoge’s only competitive race this year came when he won the London Marathon in April.

“I am happy to be the first human being to run under two hours. I hope that I inspired a lot of generations,” Kipchoge told the Awards ceremony via video link.

Muhammad won world championship 400m hurdles in world record time. She earlier broke the record in July at the United States championships.

“It’s been an amazing year. I’m so thankful to be here,” she said.

Muhammad beat fellow nominees Brigid Kosgei, who broke the women’s marathon world record, Sifan Hassan, who won world gold in the 5 000 and 10 000m, and Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who claimed gold over the 100m at the World Championships.

The world 5 000m silver medallist Selemon Barega of Ethiopia was named male rising star of the year, while Ukrainian high jump silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh was the female rising star. Anderson was also nominated in the category. (Sportsmax)