Monaco, October 06 (HS): World Athletics has announced the 20 nominees for the 2026 World Athlete of the Year awards ahead of the World Athletics Awards ceremony, which will be held in Monaco on November 29. The list comprises 10 nominees each in the women’s and men’s categories. World Athletics announced the nominations in a press release on Tuesday.

The nominees, selected by an international panel of athletics experts, reflect some of the outstanding performances recorded during the year. The athletes excelled at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships, World Athletics Series events, one-day competitions, Label Road Races and other major events held around the world.

Women’s nominees are as follows:

Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa — Assefa won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, the third-fastest time in history. She also won the London Marathon in 2:15:41, setting a world record for a women-only race.

USA’s Chase Jackson — Jackson twice improved the North American shot put record, reaching 21.02m and then 21.14m. She won the world indoor title and successfully defended her Diamond League crown after setting a Diamond League record.

USA’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden — Jefferson-Wooden completed a sprint double at the Ultimate Championships, winning both the 100m and 200m titles. She recorded world-leading times of 10.62 seconds in the 100m and 21.47 seconds in the 200m. Her 200m mark ranks as the third-fastest in history.

Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich — Ngetich won the world half-marathon title by a margin of 50 seconds in a world-record time of 1:05:15. She also captured the world cross-country title by 42 seconds. In addition, she set world-leading times of 8:08.95 in the 3,000m and 28:58 in the 10km.

Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino — Paulino won the Ultimate 400m title and successfully defended her Diamond League crown. She recorded a world-leading time of 48.48 seconds and a Diamond League record, remaining unbeaten throughout the season. She broke 49 seconds in eight races.

Spain’s María Pérez — Pérez set the first world record for the half-marathon race walk with a time of 1:30:06 and won the European title by a margin of 58 seconds.

Canada’s Camryn Rogers — Rogers improved her own North American hammer throw record to 81.13m, strengthening her position at second on the world all-time list. She produced five of the season’s best performances and successfully defended her Commonwealth Games title.

USA’s Masai Russell — Russell set a world record of 12.09 seconds in the 100m hurdles and recorded nine of the 10 fastest times of the season. She won both the Ultimate and Diamond League titles in the 100m hurdles and remained unbeaten throughout the season.

Switzerland’s Audrey Werro — Werro won the Ultimate, Diamond League and European 800m titles. She improved the Diamond League record three times and reached a world-leading time of 1:53.70, the third-fastest mark on the world all-time list.

China’s Yan Yiyi — Yiyi opened her season with a throw of 71.74m, an Asian and world U20 record that moved her to second on the world all-time javelin list. She also won the Diamond League and Asian Games titles.

Men’s nominees are as follows:

USA’s Kenneth Bednarek — Bednarek won the 100m and 200m double at the Ultimate Championships. He set personal world-leading marks of 9.85 seconds in the 100m and 19.52 seconds in the 200m. He also won the Diamond League 200m title in 19.62 seconds.

Slovenia’s Kristjan Čeh — Čeh won the Diamond League discus title with a meeting record of 71.29m. He also successfully defended his European title with a championship-record throw of 72.51m.

Italy’s Andy Díaz Hernández — Hernández won the world indoor, Diamond League and European triple jump titles. His leap of 18.15m moved him to fourth on the world all-time list.

Brazil’s Alison dos Santos — Dos Santos set a world record of 45.80 seconds in the 400m hurdles and won the Ultimate title in 45.98 seconds, the third-fastest time in history. He remained unbeaten in 11 hurdles races, including the Diamond League Final.

Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis — Duplantis improved his own pole vault world record by clearing 6.31m. He won the Ultimate, world indoor and European titles.

Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi — Kebinatshipi won the Ultimate 400m title in 43.39 seconds, moving to fifth on the world all-time list. He also won the Diamond League title and improved the Diamond League record three times, reaching 43.40 seconds. He broke 44 seconds six times in a single season, a record.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Josh Kerr — Kerr set a world record in the mile with a time of 3:42.66. He also recorded a world-leading 1,500m split of 3:27.62. He won the Ultimate 1,500m, world indoor 3,000m and Commonwealth Games mile titles.

Sri Lanka’s Rumesha Tharanga Pathirage — Pathirage won the javelin titles at the Ultimate Championships, Diamond League, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. He set a world-leading national record of 92.62m and won 13 of his 14 competitions.

Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe — Sawe won the London Marathon in a world-record time of 1:59:30. He became the first male athlete to run under two hours in a marathon recognised for record purposes.

USA’s Ja’Kobe Tharp — Tharp set a world record of 12.75 seconds in the 110m hurdles at the NCAA Championships. He won the Ultimate and Diamond League titles and recorded times below 13 seconds in six races.

Three finalists in each of the women’s and men’s categories will be announced on November 10 and 11, respectively. All the finalists will be honoured at the World Athletics Awards ceremony in Monaco on November 29.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar