- Sabastian Sawe wins Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year 2025 after an impressive season.
- Sawe recorded an unbeaten 2025, emerging victorious in the London and Berlin Marathons.
- He won the Berlin Marathon in a world lead of 2:02:16.
Kenyan long distance runner Sabastian Sawe has been crowned the Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year in the World Athletics Awards 2025.
The award comes on the back of Sawe recording an unbeaten 2025 that saw him emerge victorious in the London Marathon and the Berlin Marathon, the latter in a world lead of 2:02:16.
While Sawe won the men’s category, the women’s crown went to Spain’s Maria Perez. The wins by Perez included world titles in both the 20km race walk and the 35km race walk at the World Championships in Tokyo.
ALSO READ: Sabastian Sawe wins Berlin Marathon 2025
Sabastian Sawe wins Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year 2025
Speaking during the event held in Monaco, World Athletics President Seb Coe, congratulated the athletes for their achievements that culminated with the most widely covered and commercially impactful World Athletics Championships 2025 held in Tokyo.
“The World Athletics Awards is a celebration of the very best of our sport. Tonight, we honour our greatest men’s and women’s athletes and rising stars across track, field and out of stadium,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe during the awards ceremony.
“If there’s a motto for this year’s Awards, it is ‘for the athletes, by the athletes’ and the recipients tonight will aptly receive their prizes from some of our most storied Awards winners down the years.
“I want to thank all the athletes present for their inseparable contribution to a memorable 2025, with its crescendo World Athletics Championships in Tokyo – the most widely covered and commercially impactful edition of our sport’s flagship event in its history.”
Sawe was one of three Kenyan athletes who received awards on the night.
He was joined by 800 metre runner Emmanuel Wanyonyi who won the male Track Athlete of the Year.
ALSO READ: Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi crowned Track Athlete of the Year 2025
17-year-old Edmund Serem was named the Rising Star of 2025. He became a world bronze medalist as he finished third in the 3000m steeplechase behind New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish and Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali in Tokyo.
He was runner-up in the Diamond League final and achieved top four finishes in four other Diamond League meetings during the season.
The biggest awards of the night went to World champions Mondo Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who were announced as the World Athletes of the Year in recognition of their standout achievements in 2025.
World Athletes of the Year for 2025
Women’s World Athlete of the Year: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Men’s World Athlete of the Year: Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
Women’s track: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Women’s field: Nicola Olyslagers (AUS)
Women’s out of stadium: Maria Perez (ESP)
Men’s track: Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN)
Men’s field: Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
Men’s out of stadium: Sabastian Sawe (KEN)
Women’s Rising Star: Zhang Jiale (CHN)
Men’s Rising Star: Edmund Serem (KEN)