World Athletics published on Thursday (Oct 13) the list of nominees for Women’s and Men’s World Athlete of the Year. 4 African athletes appear on the lists.
10 athletes were selected in each category. Out of the 20 athletes nominated this year, 4 are Africans.
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan and Kenyan Faith Kipyegon are featured on the Women’s category.
Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali and Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge on the men’s.
The athletes are selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email. Their votes will respectively amount to 50% and 25% of the final result.
Fans will vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms.
Individual graphics for each nominee have been posted on social platforms.
A ‘like’ on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Monday 31 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics.
The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms in early December.
Norway’s Karsten Warholm and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah won the man and woman World Athletics Awards 2021.
Get to know the men and women nominees for 2022 (in alphabetical order):
M = Male
F = Female
Tobi Amusan, Nigeria – F
Birth date: 23 April 1997
Discipline: Women’s 100mH
The 25-year-old is the world 100m hurdles champion. In addition to that, she is the Diamond League, Commonwealth and African 100m hurdles champion. She set a world 100m hurdles record of 12.12 on July 24 during her semi-final race at the World Championship in Oregon.
Soufiane El Bakkali, Morocco – M
Birth date: 07 January 1996
Discipline: Men’s 3000mSC
The 26-yeard-old is the world 3000m steeplechase champion as well as Diamond League 3000m steeplechase champion. He was unbeaten in 2022, running a world-leading 7:58.28 in Rabat on June 5.
Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya – M
Birth date: 05 November 1984
Discipline: Men’s Marathon
– Two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge outdid his own world record in the Berlin Marathon on September 25. He clocked 2:01:09 . The 37-year-old is the Berlin Marathon champion and Tokyo Marathon champion. In 2018 and 2019, he won the Men’s World athlete of the year award.
Faith Kipyegon, Kenya – F
Birth date: 10 January 1994
Discipline: Women’s 1500m
– World 1500m champion, Diamond League 1500m champion. She ran a world-leading Kenyan record of 3:50.37, just three tenths of a second off the world record.
Previous African victories
Since 1988, 6 men African athletes have been awarded and 3 women athletes.
Algerian Noureddine Morceli was the first to win the prize, representing the continent on 1994.
The first female African athlete to shine on that stage was Ethiopian Meseret Defar in 2007.
In total, African athletes have won the award 13 times. Ethiopia is the most represented nation on the continent, followed by Morocco, Kenya and finally Algeria.
Here are the ahtletes who’ve been honoured with the top gongs:
1994 Noureddine Morceli, Algeria – M
1998 Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia – M
2001 Hicham El Guerrouj, Marocco – M
2002 Hicham El Guerrouj, Marocco – M
2003 Hicham El Guerrouj, Marocco – M
2004 Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia – M
2005 Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia – M
2007 Meseret Defar, Ethiopia – F
2010 David Rudisha, Ethiopia – M
2015 Genzebe Dibaba, Ethiopia – F
2016 Almaz Ayana, Ethiopia – F
2018 Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya – M
2019 Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya – M
