Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia, marathon) and Agnes Ngetich (Kenya, half-marathon) among the women, Collen Kebinatshipi (Botswana, 400m) and Sabastian Sawe (Kenya, marathon) among the men, are Africa's four representatives vying for the ultimate titles.
The 20 nominees for the World Athlete of the Year honours have been announced ahead of the World Athletics Awards taking place in Monaco on 29 November.
The nominees – selected by an international panel of athletics experts – include 10 for Women’s World Athlete of the Year and 10 for Men’s World Athlete of the Year.
The six finalists – three for the women’s World Athlete of the Year award and three for the men’s – will be announced on 10 and 11 November and be invited to Monaco for the World Athletics Awards on 29 November, when each winner will be announced live on stage.
Other awards presented on stage will include the men’s and women’s Rising Star honours, Coach of the Year, the President’s Award and, for the first time, the Moment of the Year award.
WOMEN
- Won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, the third-fastest time in history
- Won the London Marathon in a women-only world record of 2:15:41
- Twice improved the North American shot put record, to 21.02m and 21.14m
- Won the world indoor title and set a Diamond League record to regain the Diamond Trophy
- Won a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship
- Set world leads of 10.62 in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m, the latter putting her third on the world all-time list
- Won the world half marathon title by 50 seconds in a women-only world record of 1:05:15 and won the world cross-country title by 42 seconds
- Ran world leads of 8:08.95 for 3000m and 28:58 for 10km
Marileidy Paulino, Dominican Republic
- Won the Ultimate 400m title and regained the Diamond League title
- Set a world lead and Diamond League record of 48.48 and remained unbeaten, running under 49 seconds in eight races
- Set an inaugural world half marathon race walk record of 1:30:06
- Won the European title by 58 seconds with that world record performance
- Improved her own North American hammer record with 81.13m, strengthening her place at second on the world all-time list
- Achieved the five best performances in the world and retained the Commonwealth Games title
- Set a world 100m hurdles record of 12.09 and achieved nine of the 10 fastest times of the season
- Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles as part of an unbeaten season in the 100m hurdles
- Won Ultimate, Diamond League and European 800m titles
- Broke the Diamond League record three times, improving to a world lead of 1:53.70 – putting her third on the world all-time list
- Threw 71.74m on her season opener, an Asian and world U20 record that puts her second on the world javelin all-time list
- Won Diamond League and Asian Games
MEN:
- Achieved a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship, winning the 100m in 9.85 and 200m in a world-leading PB of 19.52
- Won the Diamond League 200m title in 19.62
- Won the Diamond League discus title with a Memorial van Damme meeting record of 71.29m
- Retained the European title with a championship record of 72.51m
- Won world indoor, Diamond League and European triple jump titles
- Jumped 18.15m to move to fourth on the world all-time list
- Set a world 400m hurdles record of 45.80 and won the Ultimate title in 45.98, the third-fastest time in history
- Went undefeated in 11 hurdles races, including the Diamond League Final
- Improved his world pole vault record to 6.31m
- Won Ultimate, world indoor and European titles
- Won the Ultimate 400m title in 43.39, putting him fifth on the world all-time list
- Won the Diamond League title and improved the Diamond League record three times, to a best of 43.40 – one of his six sub-44.00 races, a record for a single season
- Set a world mile record of 3:42.66, achieving a world lead of 3:27.62 for his 1500m split
- Won Ultimate 1500m, world indoor 3000m, and Commonwealth Games mile titles
Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, Sri Lanka
- Won Ultimate, Diamond League, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games javelin titles
- Set a world-leading national record of 92.62m and won 13 of his 14 competitions
- Won the London Marathon in a world record of 1:59:30
- Became the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon
- Set a world 110m hurdles record of 12.75 at the NCAA Championships
- Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles and broke 13 seconds in six races