IAAF has today released the nominations for the 2019 World Athletes of the Year in the men’s category. Uganda’s long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei and Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge are on the 11-man nominees’ list that will be competing for the gong.
2019 has been a heroic year for Cheptegei as he has so far emerged winner in three international events. He won world cross-country title in Aarhus, Denmark; Diamond League 500m title in Zurich, Switzerland; and he most recently won gold in the 10,000m IAAF World Championships after crossing the finishing line at a world-leading 26:48.36.
Cheptegei’s main opponent in the run-in to this award is Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, who is the reigning holder of the award and put up a record-breaking performance over the weekend where he became the first human to finish a marathon in less than two hours. Earlier this year, Kipchoge won the London Marathon in a course record of 2:02:37.
Kipchoge and fellow countryman David Rudisha (2010) are the only Africans to have won the award while Usain Bolt has won it the most times (6) in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.
The World Athletics Awards 2019 finale will be held in Monaco on Saturday November 23.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists. The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF’s official social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week; a ‘like’ on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the Male World Athlete of the Year closes on 4 November. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF. The female nominees will be announced tomorrow, Tuesday October 15.
The nominees for 2019 Male World Athlete of the Year are (in alphabetical order):
Donavan Brazier (USA)
- Won world 800m title in a championship record of 1:42.34
- Won Diamond League title
- Won four of his five outdoor 800m races
Christian Coleman (USA)
- Won world 100m title in a world-leading 9.76
- Won world 4x100m title in a world-leading 37.10
- Won four of his five races at 100m
Joshua Cheptegei (UGA)
- Won world cross-country title in Aarhus
- Won world 10,000m title in a world-leading 26:48.36
- Won Diamond League 500m title
Timothy Cheruyiot (KEN)
- Won world 1500m title
- Won Diamond League 1500m title
- Won 10 of his 11 outdoor races across all distances
Steven Gardiner (BAH)
- Won world 400m title in 43.48
- Undefeated all year over 400m
- Ran world-leading 32.26 indoors over 300m
Sam Kendricks (USA)
- Won world pole vault title
- Cleared a world-leading 6.06m to win the US title
- Won 12 of his 17 outdoor competitions, including the Diamond League final
Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
- Won London Marathon in a course record of 2:02:37
- Ran 1:59:40.2 for 42.195km in Vienna
Noah Lyles (USA)
- Won world 200m and 4x100m titles
- Ran a world-leading 19.50 in Lausanne to move to fourth on the world all-time list
- Won Diamond League titles at 100m and 200m
Daniel Stahl (SWE)
- Won the world discus title
- Threw a world-leading 71.86m to move to fifth on the world all-time list
- Won 13 of his 16 competitions, including the Diamond League final
Christian Taylor (USA)
- Won the world triple jump title
- Won Diamond League title
- Won 10 of his 14 competitions
Karsten Warholm (NOR)
- Won the world 400m hurdles title
- Undefeated indoors and outdoors at all distances, including at the Diamond League final and the European Indoor Championships
- Clocked world-leading 46.92, the second-fastest time in history.