World Athletics Awards 2023 preview: Who will be crowned World Athletes of the Year?
The winners of the year’s premier athletics awards will be announced in Monaco on 11 December. Find out who is in the running and just what to expect at this year’s World Athletics Awards.
Athletics
The 2023 edition of the World Athletics Awards takes place this Monday 11 December with the women’s and men’s World Athletes of the Year scheduled to be revealed in a ceremony in Monaco.
Last year’s winners were 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the US and pole vault world record holder Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, with the latter again shortlisted for the 2023 men’s award.
The event showcases the greatest talents of the past year and also includes Rising Stars awards for the best athletes under the age of 20.
Next week’s awards feature athletes from track, field and road including new world record holders and a slew of gold medallists from the last World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Who is in line to win one of the most coveted prizes in athletics this year? Read on to find out.
Who are the nominees for the World Athletes of the Year 2023 awards?
After an initial selection of 11 male and 11 female nominees, the five finalists for both the men’s and women’s World Athletes of the Year awards were announced on 13-14 November.
On the men’s side, 2022 winner Duplantis has once again been selected after a year in which he won his second world title in pole vault and raised the bar even higher in his sport with a new world record of six metres and 23 centimetres.
However, this year the Swede is up against some stellar competition after a number of exceptional performances by male athletes in 2023.
At just 24 years old, Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum has redefined the possibilities of the men’s marathon, breaking the great Eliud Kipchoge’s world record with a time of 2:00:35 in this year’s Chicago Marathon Major.
He will be joined by Noah Lyles, the winner of both the 100m and 200m at this year’s World Athletics Championships and another American, Ryan Crouser, who shattered his own shot put world record in May with a 23.56m throw that was 19cm above his previous best.
The last of the men’s finalists is Indian history-maker Neeraj Chopra who became the first athlete from his country to win gold at the World Athletics Championships when he secured the javelin gold medal in Budapest.
As with the men, this year’s women’s finalists showcase just what an excellent year of athletics we have been treated to in 2023.
A second marathon world record holder was crowned with Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa smashing the previous historic best by more than two minutes when she crossed the line in the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:53.
She will be joined by Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon who broke the 1500m and 5000m world records in 2023, before storming to gold over both distances in the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson enjoyed an excellent season, winning the 200m world title and both the 100m and 200m Diamond League titles this year.
The other finalists are Netherlands' Femke Bol who broke the world indoor 400m record and won gold in the 400m hurdles in Budapest, and Venezuela’s ‘Queen of the Triple Jump’ Yulimar Rojas who was once again too good for the competition as she leapt to gold at the Worlds.
This year’s Rising Stars finalists include Jamaican 400m hurdler Roshawn Clarke (19 years old), the USA’s world 200m silver medallist Erriyon Knighton (19) - the only two-time winner of the award in history - and the world 800m silver medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi (19) who are all up for the men’s award.
Kenya’s 3000m steeplechase bronze medallist Faith Cherotich (19), Ethiopian distance runner Medina Eisa (18) and Serbian high jumper and European U20 champion Angelina Topic (18) make up the nominees for the women's award.
How to follow the 2023 World Athletics Awards
The World Athletics Awards 2023 will be held at an event in Monaco on 11 December. The winners will be announced on the World Athletics social media platforms on the day of the awards.
Winners are decided by the results of a ballot that combines the votes of the World Athletics Council (50%), the World Athletics Family (25%) and members of the public (25%).