The bummer of the year was that of the doping scandal that has rocked Kenyan athletics; when Rita Jeptoo of Kenya tested positive for performance enhancing drugs at the Chicago Marathon. She outran everyone to finish with a time of 2:24:35 at the 37th Edition of the event on October 12th but a sample of her drug test will come back positive causing a flurry of speculations that has now caused the world to look at Kenyan runners with suspicion even though that is very unfair and unwarranted. Rita was recently banned for 2 years from running for for her offense. The question now is what will be the legacy of what she did to other Kenyan and African athletes.
Dennis Kimetto brought the year to a close with a world shattering world record of 2:02:57 in the Marathon when he broke the holy grail of running records at the 41st edition of the Berlin Marathon on 28th September 2014. This will eventually earn Dennis many accolades that included a nomination as the IAAF Men’s athlete of the Year. Dennis whose motivation stems from his aversion of poverty which fuels him, is an unheralded athlete from the vast pool of Kenyan runners who has now separated himself from the crowd by becoming the World Record Holder in the Marathon
Denis Kiprutto Kimetto in Photo; Courtesy IAAF @Giancarlo Colombo
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