Kenya's world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge has sold images taken at the INEOS Challenge in Vienna, Austria for Ksh3 million.
In an auction that closed on Thursday, April 8, the images were sold in the form of a Non-Fungible Token (NFTs).
A NFT is a new form of a collectible item that is signed with a unique code that serves as a permanent record of its authenticity and is stored using blockchain technology.
The technology makes it impossible to steal or counterfeit and hence the winner of the auction will be the only verified owner of the moment.
The auction took place on OpenSea, the largest marketplace for NFTs and was backed by Momentible which is a platform that gives musicians and athletes the opportunity to immortalize their legendary moments in the form of an NFT.
A high-quality artwork of the moment and a personal video message from Kipchoge will be presented to the winner.
Kipchoge announced that he would be selling the highlight of his career as an NFT on April 3 and added that he hoped that it would give someone around the world the same positive memories it gave him.
“In my career, I have always been interested in technology and therefore it fits me well to present my special sports memories on the block chain. I trust that it will help someone around the world to get these positive memories as it has done for me,” Kipchoge said on Momentible.
In October 2019, Kipchoge became the first person in history to run a 42 kilometre marathon in less than 2 hours across a special course in Vienna, Austria.
He is also the marathon world record holder and he has held the title since 2018 when he hit a record of 2:01:39 at the Berlin marathon.
Recently, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, sold his first tweet in the form of an NFT “just setting up my twttr” to the highest bidder at a total of Ksh312 million and donated the proceeds to charity.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk had earlier announced that he would sell one of his tweets as an NFT but later on withdrew the offer even though a bidder had offered to pay Ksh100 million.
Kipchoge will be joining a list of world celebrities including Jack Dorsey, billionaire and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban, musician Shawn Mendes and NFL star Rob Gronkowski who have sold NFTs.
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