WFP lauds Kenyan marathon star Tergart

The UN World Food Program on Monday praised Kenya's marathon star Paul Tergat, who is the agency's Ambassador against Hunger, for his performance in New York where he finished third place in the world's most prestigious race.

Tergat finished Sunday's race in 2:10:10 and earned a bronze medal, making him a contender in the inaugural year of the World Marathon Majors -- a new series offering a prize to the top male and female runners in five marathons worldwide.

"We congratulate Paul on this wonderful success. He has shown again what a fighter he is, and we salute his humanitarian work on behalf of WFP," said WFP Executive Director, James Morris in a statement.

"Paul fights on behalf of hungry children since he knows firsthand what it means to go to sleep hungry. We could not have a better friend -- Paul is an inspiration for all of us," said Morris.

He said the marathon star was only eight years old when he started receiving daily free school lunches from WFP in his poor home village in Kenya.

"WFP's school feeding changed my life and the lives of many other young people in Kenya. School feeding gave us the opportunity to attend school, and to grow up so we could contribute to our communities, our country and the world at large," said Tergat before Sunday's race.

Since becoming a WFP "Ambassador against Hunger" in 2004, Tergat has used his running career to raise awareness about hungry children worldwide and WFP's school feeding program.

Last year, WFP provided school meals to 21 million children in 74 countries.

"There are many millions of children around the world who do not go to school because they do not have enough food," said Tergat.

"That is just shameful. We need to give them the opportunity to go to school, and to learn more. Remember one thing: education is the key to life. And without education, it's very difficult to make the wise choices which are going to define a child's life," he said.

"We are so proud that Paul is our partner and our Ambassador.

He is such a humble and good man. Paul's life story shows that with a little extra help, we can make a huge difference in a child's life, " Morris said.

"A daily meal at school from WFP has helped him become what he is today: the fastest marathon runner in the world. He works so hard to help hungry children in Africa and we deeply thank him for that," he added.

In 2003 in Berlin, Germany, Tergat became the first man to run the marathon in less than two hours five minutes -- a world record still standing three years later.

Source: Xinhua