Awards Night
- MakEvans
- Dec 5, 2018
- 2 min read
Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th will go done the history lane in the lives of many in the sports world. Football fanatics together with athletics lovers had much more to write home about. The two days were married with crowning and awarding of best men and women in the world of sports not forgetting our very own Harambee Stars qualifying for AFCON 2019 finals.
The Paris Awards
When balloon D'or a prestigious award in the football world is mentioned, what comes in mind of real fans are the names Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The two football icons have dominated the list of those who have taken home the golden gong since 2007 when Kaka last won it. The two boost of having been named the winner five times.
This year’s award took a different twist as a new winner was unveiled. His name is Luka Modric. The 33years old Croatian who plays for Real Madrid had a magnificent year helping his club to win the UEFA Champions League cup 3 times consecutively. Modric was instrumental in the 2018 Russia world cup where he guided Croatia to reach the tournament finals where they lost to France. He was awarded the player of the tournament. He went on to win the UEFA Male Player of the Year as well as FIFA Best Player of the Year.
With all those accolades coming his way in a single year, many knew it was his year hence his chances of wining the prestigious award were high. The first runners up being Juventus forward Christiano Ronaldo and French young star Kylian Mpabe came on third. Barcelona star Messi despite scoring many goals (53) in that season came on fifth.
Women’s balloon
This year was exceptional indeed as the balloon d’or for women was introduced. Ada hegerberg was the lucky lady to take home the gong on its inception. The Norwegian born star piling her trade at Lyon women team had a year she described as unforgettable.
Despite the sexism comment from the French DJ hosting the event , Ada remains an inspiration and a force to emulate for the upcoming generation of women in football world.
The Monaco Awards
France major cities had a booming nights in succession. Immediately after the awards witnessed on Monday night in Paris, Monaco was bracing itself for another ceremony in sports world. Athletics Awards was the ceremony taking place on Tuesday night. This time, being what we Kenyans are best at, it was our time to shine and right history.
The name Eliud Kipchoge has been in the news for better part of this year after he smashed the world record in Berlin with 78 seconds becoming the first person to finish a marathon in less than two hours and two minutes. He broke the record set in 2014 by Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto by 1 minute, 18 seconds.
The Kenya’s 2016 Olympic gold medalist was on the limelight again yesterday when he was presented with the IAAF Male athlete of the year Award in Monaco.
Caterine Ibarguen from Colombia beat Kenya’s Chepkoech to the Female Athlete of the Year title. Both winners took home a cool $100,000 which is about (Sh10 million) Kenyan currency and a crystal trophy that comes with the award .
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