Kenya's Kiplagat crowned WMM champ

NAIROBI, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Boston marathon champion Edna Kiplagat has been crowned the 2016-2017 World Marathon Majors series champion.

It is her third win of the title, which comes with 500,000 U.S. dollars bounty to boot.

Kiplagat said winning the World Marathon Majors (WMM) was all down to hard work when the organizers announced her the winner of the series, now marking its tenth year.

The two-time world champion joins compatriot Eliud Kipchoge as the latest winners of the lucrative award with the Olympic champion having claimed the jackpot for the second year running.

"Edna's outstanding victory in Boston and her second place in Chicago in 2016 make her the winner of WMM, and she is an inspiration to all," said Tim Hadzima, WMM general manager. "We are delighted that we can now honor her outstanding achievements."

Kiplagat tops the leaderboard with 41 points, which concluded at the Boston Marathon in April.

The 38-year-old Kiplagat is now, along with Irina Mikitenko of Germany, a three-time WMM champion as she also won the title at the end of Series V and Series VIII.

"I am very happy and proud to have won the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series X title," Kiplagat said. "They say that good things come in threes, and that has been true for me this year. At Boston this April, I was able to win in my third different big city marathon.

"Then in the August I won my third World Championship Marathon medal. And now I have won the WMM championship for the third time. I have always wanted to challenge myself at the highest levels of our sport, and these marathons have provided me with that opportunity. I look forward to again racing against the world's best women at 2018 series."

The World Marathon Majors is a collective of the world's top six marathons in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Enditem