Uspa award surprises Kiprop

Journalists yesterday picked the runner as January’s best sportsman after he won the Mumbai Marathon.

Kampala

Jackson Kiprop surprised the athletics fraternity when he won the Mumbai Marathon after being entered as a pacesetter last month.

Yesterday, the runner was on the receiving end of a surprise after Uganda Sports Press Association (Uspa) named him the January sports personality. “What,” Kiprop reacted after Daily Monitor broke the news of his latest achievement. “I have never dreamt of winning such an award.” “It’s a big motivation for my career.”

The 26-year-old runner, competing in his first marathon, clocked 2:9:32 hours to beat Ethiopian Jacob Cheshari (2:09:43) and Kenyan Elijah Kemboi (2:10:03) to win the Mumbai event. His time also erased the 2:09:54 previous course record and earned him a ticket to the World Championships due August in Moscow, Russia.

That feat ensured that Uspa picked him for the Nile Special-sponsored award, unopposed. During their monthly meeting, the scribes also commended the women’s female national basketball team for finishing third at the Fiba Zone V tournament in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Shamim Bangi, who made the quarterfinals of the Cyprus Open tournament, was also commended. That display helped her move rose 26 places to 186 in the world rankings. Rally driver Ronald Ssebuguzi, winner of the CBS Premier Sprint, too, received a commendation. Kiprop, a Uganda Prisons officer, will receive his award at a dinner next Friday.

awasike@ug.nationmedia.com