NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 2 – World 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot will battle Uganda’s record breaker Joshua Cheptegei for the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year Award after being named in the shortlist of 10 released on Monday afternoon.
Cheruiyot was undefeated in three races in the short make up Diamond League season and completed his campaign with victory on home soil at the Nairobi Continental Gold Tour.
But he will face stiff competition from Ugandan Cheptegei who is boasting of one of the most successful seasons in his career.
The Ugandan broke world records at 5000m (12:35.36), 10,000m (26:11.00) and 5km on the roads (12:51) and finished off his season with a fourth spot placing at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships on his debut over the distance.
Also shortlisted for the award is Ugandan World Half Marathon Champion Jacob Kiplimo.
Another favorite for the award is Swede pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis who broke the world record in the pole vault twice (6.17m and 6.18m) and produced the highest outdoor vault of all time (6.15m). He is also undefeated in 16 competitions.
Duplantis’ exubuerant celebrations and fresh-faced looks make him a much-needed new star for track and field
American trio of 800m World Champion Donovan Brazier who is unbeaten over seven races he has competed in, sprinter Noah Lyles and shot putter Ryan Crouser have also been nominated for the award.
German javelin star Johannes Vetter, Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm and Swede Discus thrower Daniel Stahl have also been nominated for the award.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics’ 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 World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Sunday 15 November. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by World Athletics.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live at the World Athletics Awards 2020 on Saturday 5 December.
