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Lagat is the current coach of Ndiwa, who won the 38th edition of the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday.
Former Kenyan marathoner Haron Lagat has called corporate sponsors not to withhold their sponsorship when women athletes get pregnant.
Several high-profile athletes have protested how apparel companies treated them financially during motherhood.
Referring to what happened to Kenyan runner Stacy Ndiwa who was crowned the Los Angeles Marathon champion on Sunday, Lagat said it is wrong for any company to penalize women athletes financially.
“She lost her (running) contract a few years ago when she had a baby. I feel like companies should not be cutting women. When you have a baby they should let you keep your contract because men are having babies (too). Why are they not cutting men?”
Lagat is the current coach of Ndiwa, who won the 38th edition of the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday in Los Angeles, California.
Ndiwa won the women’s race in a personal best of 2 hours and 31 minutes and got additional prize money.
The 31-year-old long-distance runner pulled away from compatriot Martha Akeno, and became the first person to cross the finish line in the marathon chase challenge, which earned her a $10,000 bonus.
Ndiwa is one of many Kenyan athletes who regained form immediately after returning from maternity leave.
Another such athlete is Faith Kipyegon, who stayed away from competitive athletics for almost a year, but when she returned, she continued to register impressive wins in various races.
Hellen Obiri also returned stronger after maternity leave in 2016 and clinched consecutive 5000m titles at the 2017 and 2019 World Athletics championships.
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