Ruth Chepng’etich last Kenyan in World Athletics Awards race

Ruth Chepng’etich, the new women’s marathon world record-holder, is the last Kenyan athlete in contention for the 2024 World Athletics Awards.

Chepng’etich set a new world record of 2:09:56 at the Chicago Marathon on October 13, 2024. She now faces Olympic marathon champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in the Women’s Out-of-Stadium Athlete of the Year category.

In a surprising development, the 2024 awards will feature only two finalists in each of its six categories. Notably, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet, the Olympic champion and 10,000m world record-holder, is out of the running for the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award. Fellow Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, the reigning Olympic 1,500m champion and last year’s Track Athlete of the Year, also didn’t make the final cut.

In the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year category, Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the Olympic 400m hurdles champion, will compete for the title.

Kenyan star Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the Olympic 800m champion, was also left out of the Men’s Track Athlete of the Year category, where Olympic champions Jakob Ingebrigtsen (5,000m) of Norway and Letsile Tebogo (200m) of Botswana emerged as finalists.

World Athletics disclosed that the top two finalists were chosen after a preliminary round of voting, which included input from the World Athletics Council, the World Athletics Family, and a public vote on social media.

Additionally, a fan vote will occur from November 4-10 to decide the overall World Athlete of the Year, adding a new layer of public engagement to the awards. The winners will be announced on December 1 during the World Athletics Gala in Monaco.

Finalists:

Women’s Track Athlete of the Year:

Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia) – Olympic 100m champion

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) – Olympic 400m hurdles champion

Men’s Track Athlete of the Year:

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) – Olympic 5,000m champion

Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) – Olympic 200m champion

Women’s Field Athlete of the Year:

Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine) – Olympic high jump champion

Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium) – Olympic heptathlon champion

Men’s Field Athlete of the Year:

Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) – Olympic pole vault champion

Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece) – Olympic long jump champion

Women’s Out-of-Stadium Athlete of the Year:

Ruth Chepng’etich (Kenya) – world marathon record-holder

Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) – Olympic marathon champion

Men’s Out-of-Stadium Athlete of the Year:

Brian Pintado (Ecuador) – Olympic 20km race walk champion

Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia) – Olympic marathon champion