Laureus Awards CEO Jonathan Hill was forced to respond to Kenyans who were not impressed with Eliud Kipchoge’s photo the organisation settled on.
The awards, which are usually considered the sports equivalent of the Oscars, had depicted the marathoner with an embarrassing running nose.
Kipchoge was nominated alongside six other greats including NBA legend LeBron James and Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton but only his photo seemed unimpressive.
Taking to Social Media, Hill acknowledged the poor choice giving contributors one hour to make a choice from four photos he had provided.
“OK all we’ve decided to have a bit of fun with this (and) are inviting you to decide which image to use...But you have 1 hr only to let us know!
“By the way some shots you might find on the web we can’t use for copyright reasons so just stick with these please,” posted Hill and tagged Kipchoge.
Hill was responding to another Twitter user who had asked the sports academy to consider changing the photo since Kipchoge was a legend and deserved to be treated as such.
“(Kipchoge) is a true legend. Please consider changing the photo. There is a better photo to use, not the one you have used,” posted @ItsTheMagician
While issuing an apology, the CEO acknowledged that “No committee (was) needed” and that changes were being done.
Hill was appointed as the CEO of Laureus World Sports awards in October 2017 after 20 years experience working in sports agencies.
