World Athletics has announced the finalists of this year’s Athlete of the Year awards. 11 Olympic champions have been shortlisted for the prestigious awards, with the winners set to be announced in a ceremony in Monaco on Sunday, 1 December.
Olympic 400m champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Paris 2024 pole vault champion Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis and Olympic marathon champion Sifan Hassan are on the list of finalists from the events of track, field, and road.
Winners in each category for the Athlete of the Year awards and overall winners will be decided through a public vote which will be held between 4 and 10 November.
Athletes of the Year 2024 finalists
Women’s track athlete of the year
Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia)
The Olympic 100m champion and 200m silver medallist, also won the 60m world indoor title in Glasgow in March. Julien Alfred became the first athlete from Saint Lucia to win an Olympic medal of any colour with her gold in the 100m at Paris 2024.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
McLaughlin-Levrone is a renowned figure in the 400m hurdles, and at Paris Olympics 2024, the American nearly shattered her own world record on her way to winning gold. She also won a second Olympic title as part of the gold-winning U.S. women’s 4x400m relay team.
Men’s track athlete of the year
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Noway)
Although Ingebrigtsen failed to defend his 1500m title in Paris, the Norwegian made up for that by winning gold in the 5000m. He became the first European-born athlete to do so since Barcelona 1992. Ingebrigtsen also broke the 3000m world record at the Silesia Diamond League in August.
Letsile Tebogo (Botswana)
The African record holder became the first Olympic champion from Botswana when won 200m gold in Paris. He clocked the fastest time of 19.46 over the distance in 2024.
Women’s field athlete of the year
Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine)
Yaroslava Mahuchikh won high jump gold at the Paris Olympic Games. She also set a new world record of 2.10m, breaking the record for the first time in over 30 years.
Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium)
Nafissatou Thiam won a historic third consecutive heptathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games, adding to golds at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. She became the first woman to accomplish the remarkable feat.
Men’s field athlete of the year
Mondo Duplantis (Sweden)
Mondo Duplantis broke his own pole vault world three thrice this year, raising the bar from 6.23m to 6.26m via Xiamen, the Olympic Games final in Paris, and Chorzów. He holds the top eight clearances of 2024.
Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece)
Now a two-time Olympic champion, Tentoglou also added world indoor gold to his collection back in March. The Greek long jumper is also the world leader, having soared to 8.65m at the European Championships.
Women’s out of stadium athlete of the year
Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya)
Produced the first sub-2:10 marathon time by a woman in history in October by winning the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56, breaking the previous world record by nearly two full minutes.
Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)
Sifan Hassan won two bronze medals in the Olympics, in the 5000m and 10,000m races. She also won Olympic marathon debut and broke the Olympic record on her way to winning gold.
Also Read: Sydney Marathon Becomes Seventh World Major In Elite Race
Men’s out of stadium athlete of the year
Brian Pintado (Ecuador)
Brian Pintado won the individual Olympic gold in the men’s 20km race walk in Paris, becoming the second man from Ecuador to claim the Olympic title after 28 years. He also won silver in the new mixed marathon race walk relay event alongside Glenda Morejón.
Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia)
Tamirat Tola was originally not in Ethiopia’s Olympic team, but went on to win marathon gold in a new Olympic record. He took part after being called up as a late injury replacement.
