This week marks the opening of the voting process for the World Athletes of the Year ahead of the World Athletics Awards 2024.

World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of five nominees for Women’s Field Athlete of the Year and five nominees for Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. These athletes were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

In what has been another memorable year for the sport, the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, World Athletics Indoor Championships, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.

The Executive Committee of the Ivorian Athletics Federation (FIA) held its Ordinary General Assembly on Saturday, October 12, 2024, in room 20 of the National Institute of Youth and Sports. During this meeting, President Jeannot Kouamé Kouadio announced the appointment of Méité Ben Youssef, distinguished sprinter and former captain of the Côte d'Ivoire national team, as Administrative Director of the African Athletics Development Center in Abidjan (AADC).

World Athletics was named Elite Organization of the Year at the BBC Green Sport Awards in London on Monday (7), in recognition of its ambitious initiatives to encourage and demonstrate action on environmental and climate change issues in the during the past year.

Launched in 2022, these annual awards celebrate individuals and organizations around the world who are actively contributing to a more sustainable future through their sporting profile and practices.

As in previous years, the 2025 Wanda Diamond League will see the world’s biggest stars compete across four different continents at 14 of the sport’s most prestigious one-day meetings, with the most successful qualifying for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.

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Jakob Ingebrigtsen shattered one of the longest standing track world records on a sweltering afternoon at the Silesian Stadium on Sunday (25) as he clocked a staggering 7:17.55 for the 3000m, taking more than three seconds off the mark of 7:20.67 set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996.

USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made a stupendous and successful defence of her Olympic 400m hurdles title at the Paris 2024 Games on Thursday (8) as she took 0.28 off her own world record* with 50.37.

South African high jumper Jacques Freitag has died at age 42. Jacques Freitag, African high jump record holder (2m38) died tragically. After missing for two weeks, he was found dead with gunshot wounds in Pretoria.

Freitag's sister, Chrissie Lewis, had appealed for help on social media to find Freitag, who disappeared in the early hours of June 17 after leaving her mother's house. Chrissie Lewis said Freitag struggled with drug addiction after his athletic career ended.

Hagos Gebrhiwet produced the standout performance of the Bislett Games – and one of the biggest surprises of the year so far – when winning the men’s 5000m in 12:36.73 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday (30).

It was one of three meeting records and five world leads set on an enthralling night of athletics action in the Norwegian capital, just two months away from the Paris Olympic Games.

Residents of the Dakar International Center (AADC) performed well during meetings in Martinique and Japan. The Gambian Gina Bass signed the best performance of her career by achieving 10”93 in the 100m. A first for the sprinter under 11 seconds. Which constitutes a new national record for The Gambia. The Malagasy Sidonie Fiadanantsoa also stood out with a time of 12”86 in the 100m Hurdles. She can aim for the ticket to Paris 2024. Louis François Mendy placed 2nd with a time of 13”50 in the 110m Hurdles. Like Gina Bass, he has already validated his visa for Paris 2024. Saly Sarr, with 14m08 in the Triple Jump, signs his best performance in this event.

Amadou Gakou's record threatened

The Senegalese Cheikh Tidiane Diouf, not a resident of AADC Dakar, clocked 45''03 in the 400m, thereby threatening the legendary national record of Amadou Gakou (45''01 established since 1968).