JOHANNESBURG - South African track queen Caster Semenya has made the short-list of 10 nominees for the IAAF Female World Athlete of the Year award on Monday.
It is the second consecutive year and will be looking to make the short-list of five athletes following a three-way voting process which closes on November 12. Treble world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist Semenya missed out on the three-women shortlist last year despite a blemish-free year.
She will go up against a host of global female superstars which include Colombian horizontal jumps specialist Caterine Ibarguen, Kenyan steeplechaser Beatrice Chepkoech and Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
Semenya’s incredible versatility and absolute dominance in the 800 metres in 2018 make her one of the favourites to make the shortlist. She will be looking to walk in the footsteps of former world high jump champion Hestrie Cloete, who won the coveted accolade in 2003.
The South Africa track sensation racked up the accolades this year winning the 800-1500m double gold at the Commonwealth Games, the 400-800m double at the African Championships, the 800m Diamond Trophy and the Continental Cup title in her specialist two-lap event.
She was unbeaten in her nine 800m finals including the Commonwealth Games, African Championships, Diamond League final and Continental Cup while setting national records in the 400m, 800m, 1000m and 1500m.
The IAAF council and the IAAF family will cast their votes by email while fans can vote online via the IAAF's social media platforms. The world athletics governing body will post graphics of each nominee on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
🚨ALERT🚨 #AthleticsAwards announcement🤩 @caster800m is one of 10 nominees for Female World Athlete of the Year 2018✅
Retweet this post to vote her👇 pic.twitter.com/l43rw4bv70
— IAAF (@iaaforg) October 22, 2018
A 'like' on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote. The IAAF council’s vote will count for 50 percent of the while the IAAF family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 percent.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018. The male nominees will be announced on Tuesday where South African long-jumper Luvo Manyonga may earn a nomination for the second year in a row.