Eliud Kipchoge nominated for Male Athlete of the Year award
Eliud Kipchoge has again earned a nomination for the Male Athlete of the Year gong.
It follows a successful year for the Kenyan athlete, considered the best marathoner ever, with his achievements including setting a new record at the Berlin marathon.
Kipchoge clocked 2:01:09 to win Berlin Marathon for the fourth time, beating his previous world record time of 2:01:39 he had set when winning on the same course in 2018.
The 37-year-old, who has been running for the last two decades, has won two consecutive Olympic Gold medals in the 42 km distance.
He’s already won the award twice, in 2018 and 2019, and looks to become only the third athlete in history to win it three times.
In 2018, Kipchoge won the award after he set the World Record at the Berlin Marathon, and in 2019, he won it after becoming the first man to run the marathon in under two hours.
His 2019 award elicited mixed reactions as his sub-two timing was not officially recognized as it was organized in specialized circumstances, but the effect and influence the race had transcended the entire globe and motivated a whole generation.
Kipchoge will battle it out with Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali who broke Kenya’s dominance in the steeplechase race to win both the Olympic and Diamond League titles.
Another Kenyan namely Faith Kipyegon has been nominated for the women’s award.
The nominees for 2022 Men’s World Athlete of the Year are (in alphabetical order) are:
Kristjan Ceh, SLO
– World discus champion
– Diamond League discus champion, throwing a national record 71.27m on the circuit in Birmingham
– European discus silver medallist
Alison dos Santos, BRA
– World 400m hurdles champion
– Diamond League 400m hurdles champion
– Ran a world-leading South American record of 46.29
Mondo Duplantis, SWE
– World pole vault champion indoors and outdoors
– Diamond League and European pole vault champion
– Improved his world record to 6.19m and 6.20m indoors, and then 6.21m outdoors
Soufiane El Bakkali, MAR
– World 3000m steeplechase champion
– Diamond League 3000m steeplechase champion
– Unbeaten in 2022, running a world-leading 7:58.28 in Rabat
Grant Holloway, USA
– World 110m hurdles champion
– World indoor 60m hurdles champion
– Diamond League 110m hurdles champion
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, NOR
– World 5000m champion, world 1500m silver medallist indoors and outdoors
– European 1500m and 5000m champion
– Diamond League 1500m champion in a world-leading 3:29.02
Eliud Kipchoge, KEN
– Improved his world marathon record to 2:01:09
– Berlin Marathon champion
– Tokyo Marathon champion
Noah Lyles, USA
– World 200m champion
– Diamond League 200m champion
– Ran a world-leading national record of 19.31 to move to third on the world all-time list
Anderson Peters, GRN
– World javelin champion
– Commonwealth javelin silver medallist
– Threw a world-leading NACAC record of 93.07m, moving to fifth on the world all-time list
Pedro Pichardo, POR
– World triple jump champion with a world-leading leap of 17.95m
– World indoor triple jump silver medallist
– European triple jump champion
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, Instagram and YouTube this week; a ‘like’ on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 per cent of the final result.
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.