There's a popular quote that says: If you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book.
The quote has been used on a number of occasions to suggest that Africans do not like reading.
However, legendary Kenyan marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge, is a man cut from a different cloth. He is an ardent reader who spends most of his free time learning more from different authors.
"In my free time, I like reading books. I read books to get more knowledge as a human being," Kipchoge stated.
One of his favourite books is Stephen R. Covey's '7 Habits of Highly Effective People'.
In the book, Covey argues that it is character that needs to be cultivated to achieve sustainable success, rather than personality.
Some of the other books that Kipchoge has read include Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell, The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, and The Magic by Rhonda Byrne, among others.
Kipchoge was named the best male athlete of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He was feted at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Awards 2021 held in Greece on Sunday, October 24.
The marathoner became the third man to win gold back-to-back in the Olympic marathon, joining Abebe Nikila of Ethiopia and Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski.
"When you win two Olympic gold medals back-to-back, its making history because only three people have done it, I'm happy to have done that in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics," he stated.
