Three Kenyan athletes have made it to the nominees list for the 2024 Track Athlete of the Year award released by World Athletics on Monday morning.
Paris Olympic Games gold medalists Beatrice Chebet and Faith Kipyegon headline the star-studded female list while fast-rising two-lap specialist Emmanuel Wanyonyi is the sole Kenya representative in the men’s category.
Kipyegon and Chebet will compete for the prestigious award with the likes of Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred and Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino as well as the United States’ duo of Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who are also in contention.
Chebet had a stellar 2024 season which saw her bag two gold medals in the recently held Paris Olympic Games.
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The athlete, who was born in Kericho County, ran a sensational race on May 25 in Eugene to smash the previous world record of 29:01.03 that was set by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey in 2021.
She crossed the finishing line in 28:54.14 and became the first woman to dip under 29 minutes in the history of the discipline.
A few months later, the 24-year-old clocked 30:43.25 to win Kenya’s first ever 10,000m Olympic Games gold medal at the Paris edition.
Before that historic display, Chebet had also won a 5,000m Olympic Games gold medal, beating her compatriot Kipyegon and Dutch runner Sifan Hassan to the title.
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Similar to Chebet, Kipyegon had a year to remember despite starting her season late due to an injury.
The Kaptagat-based runner became the first ever athlete to win three consecutive 1500m Olympic Games gold medals when she won in Paris.
She also ran a breath-taking race at the Paris Diamond League in July, crossing the finishing line in 3:49.04 to lower the world record that she had set a year ago by 0.07 seconds.
Moreover, Kipyegon won several Wanda Diamond League meetings before securing the coveted trophy in September’s final that was staged in Brussels, Belgium.
Meanwhile, 800m sensation Wanyonyi lived up to the expectations that many individuals had placed on him this year, winning a gold medal in the Paris Olympic Games before concluding his season with the Diamond League trophy.
Wanyonyi is joined in the list by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the American trio of Grant Holloway, Noah Lyles and Rai Benjamin.
Athletics fans can cast their votes on the World Athletics social media pages including Facebook, Instagram, and X before October 27.
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