JOHANNESBURG – Three Africans led by Ugandan triple world record holder Joshua Cheptegei on Monday were nominated for Male World Athlete of the Year.
The 24-year-old Cheptegei broke world records at 5000m (12:35.36), 10,000m (26:11.00) and 5km on the roads (12:51) over the past year. He was also fourth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships on his debut over the distance last month.
Fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo was also nominated. The 19-year-old won the World Athletics Half Marathon title in a championship record of 58:49. He also ran a world-leading 7:26.64 over 3000m, the fastest time in the world since 2007.
Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot completed the African nominations. He ran the best time in the world over the past year in the 1500m when he clocked 3:28.45 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting in August. The 24-year-old was also undefeated in his three 1500m races this season.
The African trio were part of a list of 10 nominees including Donavan Brazier (USA), Ryan Crouser (USA), Mondo Duplantis (SWE), Noah Lyles (USA|), Daniel Stahl (SWE), Johannes Vetter (GER), Karsten Warholm (NOR).
Nominees announced for Male World Athlete of the Year 2020.#WorldAthleticsAwards
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) November 2, 2020
📰:https://t.co/aDzBgmu8ej pic.twitter.com/0jjwpTHbPw
This week marks the opening of the voting process for the World Athletes of the Year ahead of the awards ceremony to be held virtually on December 5.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics staff will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics’ social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week; a ‘like’ on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50 percent of the result, while the World Athletics staff votes and the public votes will each count for 25 percent of the final result.
Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on November 15. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by World Athletics.
African News Agency (ANA)