Chepngetich, Tebogo and Tola named World Athletics Awards 2024 finalists
With the countdown to the World Athletics Awards 2024 under way, the finalists for the Athlete of the Year title have been confirmed.
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The annual World Athletics Awards 2024 are fast approaching, and the shortlist for the prestigious Athlete of the Year title has been revealed. In total, 12 athletes - six women and six men - are in the running for the award after standout performances this season.
This year, three African athletes feature among the finalists after historic and impressive achievements in 2024, underlining the weight of the African continent in world athletics.
Ruth Chepngetich - Kenya
Ruth Chepngetich smashed the women's marathon world record at last October's Chicago Marathon, clocking a blistering 2h09'56". She became the first woman to run the distance in under 2h10, claiming her third Chicago win and improving her personal best by more than four minutes. Her performance is all the more impressive given that only nine men finished the race ahead of her.
Letsile Tebogo - Botswana
At the Paris Olympics, Letsile Tebogo made a major impression and wrote the finest chapter in Botswana's sporting history by delivering the country's first Olympic gold medal. His time of 19.46 seconds in the men's 200 metres set a new African record and moved him up to fifth on the all-time world list. He also finished sixth in the 100 metres final and helped Botswana's team to silver in the 4x400m relay, capping a memorable season.
Tamirat Tola - Ethiopia
For Tamirat Tola, the Paris 2024 Olympics came as a late opportunity, as he was only added to the Ethiopian team at a late stage. He seized his chance, however, winning the marathon in an Olympic record of 2h06'26". He erased the previous record of 2h06'32", set by Sammy Wanjiru at the Beijing 2008 Games, confirming his place among the greatest marathon runners in history.
Voting closed on Sunday 10 November, after an initial phase that included votes from the World Athletics Council, the World Athletics Family and a public vote on social media. In each category (track, field and out of stadia), the two athletes with the most votes will be separated in a final phase, new for this edition. This final round of voting, open to athletics fans, ran from 4 to 10 November and will determine the winners of each category, as well as the World Athlete of the Year.
The results will be announced on 1 December at a ceremony in Monaco, as part of the World Athletics Awards 2024.
The Athlete of the Year finalists at the World Athletics Awards 2024
Female track athlete of the year
- Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia) - Olympic 100m champion
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) - Olympic 400m hurdles champion
Male track athlete of the year
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) - Olympic 5000m champion
- Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) - Olympic 200m champion
Female field athlete of the year
- Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine) - Olympic high jump champion
- Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium) - Olympic heptathlon champion
Male field athlete of the year
- Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) - Olympic pole vault champion
- Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece) - Olympic long jump champion
Female out-of-stadia athlete of the year
- Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) - Marathon world record holder
- Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) - Olympic marathon champion
Male out-of-stadia athlete of the year
- Brian Pintado (Ecuador) - Olympic 20km race walk champion
- Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) - Olympic marathon champion