Kenyan billionaire Jimmy Wanjigi appears to have tweeted that he would give Eliud Kipchoge a new jet if the recording-breaking athlete ran a marathon in under two hours.
The 9 October 2019 post on the Twitter account @Jimmywanjigi1 reads: “I just called #eliudkipchoge . So this was the deal. If he wins the @INEOS159 challenge then I have to buy him a private jet before 28th of November 2019. All the best Eliud Kipchoge.”
The Ineos challenge was held in Austria on 12 October 2019. Ineos is a UK chemicals manufacturing company
In September vehicle manufacturer Isuzu promised to give Kipchoge a new pick-up truck in he broke the record in the Berlin marathon.
After Kipchoge won the challenge, another tweet from @Jimmywanjigi1 confirmed the offer.
“Congratulations!! You have done us proud #Eliud159 . Plans are underway with @GulfstreamAero, the jet will be deliver to #eliudkipchoge before 29th November 2019. Hard work pays . #NoHumanIsLimited,” it reads.
But Wanjigi has said the tweets were not from him.
“It is a fake account. It has nothing to do with me,” he reportedly told Citizen Digital on 12 October.
His lawyer Willis Otieno said Wanjigi doesn’t use social media and the two Twitter handles using his name – @Jimmywanjigi1 and @JimiWanjigi – were fake.
Yet what looks like Kipchoge’s reply to the fake Wanjigi tweets is being shared on Facebook. It seems to be a screenshot of a tweet from @EliudKipchoge in which the athlete asks the businessman to honour the promise.
It reads: “Mr Jimmy Wanjigi I Want My Private Jet Delivered When I Touch Down JKIA.”
The careless language and random capitalisation are inconsistent with tweets from Kipchoge’s official Twitter account, which are well written.
The screenshot is dated 14 October 2019. But the only tweet on Kipchoge’s Twitter account that day is to former US president Barack Obama.
An advanced Twitter search for the tweet returns no results. The tweet is also fake. – Dancan Bwire
The 9 October 2019 post on the Twitter account @Jimmywanjigi1 reads: “I just called #eliudkipchoge . So this was the deal. If he wins the @INEOS159 challenge then I have to buy him a private jet before 28th of November 2019. All the best Eliud Kipchoge.”
The Ineos challenge was held in Austria on 12 October 2019. Ineos is a UK chemicals manufacturing company
In September vehicle manufacturer Isuzu promised to give Kipchoge a new pick-up truck in he broke the record in the Berlin marathon.
Fake Twitter accounts
After Kipchoge won the challenge, another tweet from @Jimmywanjigi1 confirmed the offer.
“Congratulations!! You have done us proud #Eliud159 . Plans are underway with @GulfstreamAero, the jet will be deliver to #eliudkipchoge before 29th November 2019. Hard work pays . #NoHumanIsLimited,” it reads.
But Wanjigi has said the tweets were not from him.
“It is a fake account. It has nothing to do with me,” he reportedly told Citizen Digital on 12 October.
His lawyer Willis Otieno said Wanjigi doesn’t use social media and the two Twitter handles using his name – @Jimmywanjigi1 and @JimiWanjigi – were fake.
Kipchoge’s reply also fake
Yet what looks like Kipchoge’s reply to the fake Wanjigi tweets is being shared on Facebook. It seems to be a screenshot of a tweet from @EliudKipchoge in which the athlete asks the businessman to honour the promise.
It reads: “Mr Jimmy Wanjigi I Want My Private Jet Delivered When I Touch Down JKIA.”
The careless language and random capitalisation are inconsistent with tweets from Kipchoge’s official Twitter account, which are well written.
The screenshot is dated 14 October 2019. But the only tweet on Kipchoge’s Twitter account that day is to former US president Barack Obama.
An advanced Twitter search for the tweet returns no results. The tweet is also fake. – Dancan Bwire
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