We look at the Africans nominated for the World Athlete of the Year – with Kenya and Uganda being among the nominees.
Faith Kipyegon
Kipyegon won the Olympic 1500m title in August, becoming only the third woman to retain her title after becoming a mother in-between Games. She achieved the fourth fastest time in the event in history, setting a Kenyan record!
The 27-year-old was one of the 10 female nominees named by World Athletics on Friday, joining a host of fellow Olympic champions on the list.
Eliud Kipchoge
Already a two-time World Athlete of the Year, Eliud Kipchoge won the men’s marathon title at the Olympics, and he is the current world record holder!
The two-time Olympic gold medallist is also the only man to have run the distance in under two hours, in assisted conditions in 2019.
Joshua Cheptegei
Joshua Cheptegei etched his name in Uganda’s history books as the country’s greatest athlete ever last summer, winning the 10000m silver medal and 5000m gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan.
Last year, Cheptegei broke the world record for the 5000m in Monaco, before taking the 10000m world record in Valencia!
How is the honour awarded?
World Athletics members each have one vote, and this combined with an online poll will determine which individuals make the final shortlist for the event.
Voting closes at midnight on Saturday 6 November, after which the number of candidates will be cut in half.
The final male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced in December, and Africa has a good chance of winning!
Men’s nominees:
- Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda
- Ryan Crouser, United States
- Mondo Duplantis, Sweden
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Norway
- Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya
- Pedro Pichardo, Portugal
- Daniel Stahl, Sweden
- Miltiadis Tentoglou, Greece
- Damian Warner, Canada
- Karsten Warholm, Norway
Women’s nominees:
- Valarie Allman, United States
- Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Puerto Rico
- Sifan Hassan, Netherlands
- Faith Kipyegon, Kenya
- Mariya Lasitskene, Authorised Neutral Athlete
- Sydney McLaughlin, United States
- Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamas
- Athing Mu, United States
- Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela
- Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jamaica
