Faith Kipyegon makes final list for World Athletics Awards
Double World Record Holder in 1,500m and one mile races Faith Kipyegon shows some of the medals she has won, during an interview at their home in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County on October 21, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The five athletes, who represent five countries from four area associations, have achieved sensational performances across a range of athletics disciplines in 2023.
- They won titles and broke world records at the this year's World Athletics Championships in Budapest, one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other events around the world.
Double world champion Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, who broke three track world records this year, has made it to the final list of five athletes for the 2023 Female World Athlete of the Year Awards.
Kipyegon hopes to outwit marathon world record holder Tigist Assefa (Ethiopia) and World 200m champion Shericka Jackson among others and make history as the first Kenyan woman to win the award.
Also in contention for the prestigious accolade are world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) and Femke Bol (The Netherlands), who is the World 400m hurdles champion and World indoor 400m world record holder.
World Athletics confirmed the names of the five finalists from a field of 11 on Monday.
The five athletes, who represent five countries from four area associations, have achieved sensational performances across a range of athletics disciplines in 2023.
They won titles and broke world records at the this year's World Athletics Championships in Budapest, one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other events around the world.
The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms on December 11.
Kipyegon, 29, completed a double at the World Athletics Championships in August, a month after she shattered world records in the 1,500m, 5,000m and one mile races.
Kipyegon, who is the 2016 and 2021 Olympic 1,500m champion, achieved the world records in less than two months.
Perhaps the most precious of them all was the world record that came at the Florence Diamond League on June 2 when she ran 3:49.11 to break the 1,500m world record of 3:50.07 set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in Monaco on July 17, 2015.
Her achievement in Florence, the first by a Kenyan woman, officially cemented Kipyegon’s legacy as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in women’s middle-distance running, having won two Olympic and two world titles then.
A week later, she raced at the Paris Diamond League on June 9 and stepped up to the 5,000m.
The world record of 14:06.62 set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in Valencia on October 7, 2020 wasn't on Kipyegon’s mind, but the bubbly Kenyan still broke it, running 14:05.20 on her third-ever race at the distance and her first since 2015.
Kipyegon clocked 4:07.64 at Monaco Diamond on July 21 to obliterate the previous One Mile record of 4:12.33 set by Dutch woman Sifan Hassan at the same venue in 2019.
Moving to Budapest, Kipyegon made history as the first woman in history to sweep the 1,500m and 5,000m gold medals at one world championships.
Kipyegon sealed a hat-trick of wins in 1,500m after previous wins in 2017 London and 2022 Oregon, in 3:54.87 seconds. Kipyegon would then win the world 5,000m title in 14:53.88.
Kipyegon went on to retain her Diamond League Trophy, winning at Prefontaine Classic on September 16 in the United States of America before wrapping up her season with bronze in Road Mile at the World Road Running Championships on October 1 in Riga, Latvia.
The finalists in alphabetical order
Tigist Assefa, (ETH, marathon)
· Berlin marathon winner
· World marathon record
Femke Bol, NED, 400m/400m hurdles
· World 400m hurdles champion
· World indoor 400m record
Shericka Jackson, JAM, 100m/200m
· World 200m champion and 100m silver medallist
· Diamond League 100m and 200m champion
Faith Kipyegon, KEN, 1500m/mile/5000m
· World 1500m and 5000m champion
· World records at 1500m, mile and 5000m
Yulimar Rojas, VEN, triple jump
· World champion
· Diamond league champion
