International Olympic Committee confers IOC World Trophy on Tegla Loroupe – Athletics news
Sports are a tool to promote awareness, the message of peace, harmony, mutual co-existence and the lady that has been using this tool in a best possible way to achieve the above mentioned goals is Tegla Chepkite Loroupe. The veteran long distance track and
road runner from Kenya is also known to be as a global spokeswoman for peace, women’s rights and education.
Recently, while acknowledging the efforts made by Loroupe, the International Olympic Committee, an international (sports) corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, which organises modern Olympic Games in summer and winter every four years, conferred the
IOC World Trophy upon her at the Women and Sport Awards ceremony on Thursday, June 23.
The three-time World Half Marathon Champion, Loroupe, also holds the world record for the distances of 20, 25 and 30km. The veteran runner has also held the world marathon record for long. The professional record of the 38-year-old woman has always been
impressive.
She was the first African woman ever to claim the New York City Marathon, and she did that twice. Other major feathers in her cap include titles of London Marathon, Boston Marathon Rotterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, Rome and many other prestigious races in other
cities.
Besides acknowledging the professional achievements of the bronze medal winner of the 1995 and 1999 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, the present award is also the recognition of her hard work towards encouraging the participation, development and involvement
of young girls in sports.
Admiring her untiring efforts and commitment towards the noble cause which she has been pursuing for many years, the IOC profile went on to describe her as, “She may come from a humble background, but today Kenyan Tegla Loroupe is an international sports
icon. An international role model for women not only in her country, but also the world, it is an achievement she managed through humility, patience, hard work and team spirit.”
Besides the world trophy given to the formidable runner and an untiring social worker, there were some other awards as well which were given to some other individuals and to an organisation, as an acknowledgement of their efforts to promote sports, particularly
athletics in their respective area of influence. The ceremony took place at the head office of the IOC in Lausanne, where Jacques Rogge, president of the organisation was also present.
Sharing his thoughts over the achievements of the respective award winners, the president said, “The IOC Women and Sport Awards represent how far the Olympic Movement has come in the field of gender equality. The participation of women at the Games, for
example, has almost doubled in the last 30 years from 23 per cent to 43 per cent.”
The president hoped for this encouraging trend to continue until next year’s London Olympics.
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