Sifan Hassan was undoubtedly one of the stars in the athletics world this year. Her unique double at the world championships not only showed her versatility but also her immense talents on the track.
She had won the 1,500m and 10,000m titles in world-leading times of 3:51.95 and 30:17.62 respectively. The Dutchwoman is among the five athletes shortlisted for the Female World Athlete of the Year.
While her association with coach Alberto Salazar, who has been banned for doping practices, seems to have tainted her extraordinary performance, there is no denying that Sifan is a precious talent.
The Ethiopian born runner, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, also won the Diamond League 1500m and 5000m titles. Sifan had also broken the world mile record with 4:12.33 in Monaco earlier this year.
Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who blew away a world class field in a time of 10.71 seconds to claim her fourth 100m world championship title, would be one of the leading contenders for the award.
The sprint gold was her eighth world title overall and cemented the 32-year-old’s position as one of the greatest female sprinters of all time. Not only she became the oldest women to win the century dash, but she was also the second mother in history to win a 100m gold at a global meet.
The Olympic champion had won seven of her 10, 100m races in the year.
She also helped the Jamaican relay team to the 4x100m gold in a fast time of 41.44. Both the relay and the 100m sprint times were world leading times. Fraser-Pryce also won the Pan-American 200m title earlier this year.
Kenyan marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei is the third nominee for the prestigious award. Kosgei set the world record of 2:14:04 enroute to wining the Chicago Marathon.
The time bettered the 16-year-old world record by 1 minute 24 seconds, and the women’s Chicago Marathon record by 3 minutes and 14 seconds.
The 25-year-old was also a winner at the London Marathon after having finished second the previous year.
It has been a stellar year for Kosgei, who had run world-leading 1:05:28 for the half marathon and 1:04:28 on a downhill course.
American Dalilah Muhammad, who won the 400m hurdles gold at the world championships in a world record time of 52.16 has also made the shortlist.
The 29-year-old had recorded a world record time of 52.20 at the US Championships, a time she lowered at the world championships.
The New Yorker also helped the American side clinch the 4x400m relay gold at the world championships.
She is only the second female 400 meter hurdler in history, after Sally Gunnell, to have won the Olympic and world titles and broken the world record.
Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas is the only field athlete to be shortlisted. Rojas won the world triple jump title with a leap of 15.37m.
The 24-year-old jumped a world-leading 15.41m earlier this year to move to second on the world all-time list. She has won won nine of her 12 competitions this year, including the Pan-American Games.
Rojas is also an accomplished athlete in both the high jump and long jump, where she has personal bests of 1.87m and 6.57m respectively.
A three-way voting process was used to determine the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via our social media platforms. The Council’s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year would be announced during the World Athletics Awards 2019 in Monaco on Saturday 23 November.
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