Four African athletes have been nominated for the 2026 World Athletics Athlete of the Year awards, with Ethiopia, Kenya and Botswana represented on a shortlist dominated by the United States.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa and Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich earned nominations in the women’s category, while Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi and Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe made the men’s shortlist.
The nominations were announced by World Athletics ahead of the World Athletics Awards, scheduled for Monaco on November 29, with 10 athletes shortlisted for the women’s award and another 10 for the men’s honour.
Assefa’s inclusion comes after another outstanding marathon campaign.
The Ethiopian won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, the third-fastest time in history, before producing an even more significant performance in London.
She won the London Marathon in 2:15:41, setting a women-only world record and reinforcing her credentials as one of the leading marathon runners in the world.
Ngetich has also enjoyed a remarkable year, winning the World Half Marathon title by 50 seconds in a women-only world record of 1:05:15. She subsequently dominated the World Cross Country Championships, winning by 42 seconds.
The Kenyan further strengthened her case with world-leading performances of 8:08.95 over 3000m and 28:58 for 10km, underlining her extraordinary range across track, road and cross-country competition.
Kebinatshipi and Sawe strengthen African challenge
Kebinatshipi is Botswana’s sole representative on the shortlist after emerging as one of the biggest names in the men’s 400m this season.
The 22-year-old won the 400m at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in 43.39 seconds, a time that moved him to fifth on the world all-time list.
He also claimed the Diamond League title and lowered the Diamond League record three times, eventually setting it at 43.40. His consistency was equally impressive, with six sub-44-second performances during the season, a record for a single athlete in one campaign.
Kenya’s Sawe joins him in the men’s category after producing one of the defining performances of the athletics year.
Sawe won the London Marathon in 1:59:30, becoming the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon. The performance put him at the centre of the global marathon conversation and earned him a place among the sport’s leading athletes.
The four Africans will face strong international competition, particularly from the United States, which has six athletes across the two categories.
US leads star-studded international field
The American contingent includes Chase Jackson, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Masai Russell in the women’s category, alongside Kenneth Bednarek and Ja’Kobe Tharp in the men’s event.
Jackson twice improved the North American shot put record, eventually reaching 21.14m, while also winning the world indoor title and Diamond League Trophy.
Jefferson-Wooden won the sprint double at the Ultimate Championship and recorded world-leading times of 10.62 seconds in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m. Russell, meanwhile, enjoyed an unbeaten season in the 100m hurdles, setting a world record of 12.09.
Bednarek also completed a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship, winning the 100m in 9.85 and the 200m in a world-leading personal best of 19.52. Tharp set a world 110m hurdles record of 12.75.
Other major contenders include Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, who improved his pole vault world record to 6.31m, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, who set a world 400m hurdles record of 45.80, and Britain’s Josh Kerr, who set a world mile record of 3:42.66.
Dominican Republic 400m star Marileidy Paulino, Canada’s Camryn Rogers, Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, Spain’s María Pérez and China’s Yan Ziyi complete the women’s field, while Slovenia’s Kristjan Čeh, Italy’s Andy Díaz Hernández and Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage round out the men’s nominees.
An eight-member panel of statisticians selected the 20 nominees. The final ranking will be determined through a four-way vote involving World Athletics fans, athletes, accredited media and the wider World Athletics Family, with each group contributing 25 percent.
Voting closes on October 17, while the six finalists, three men and three women, will be announced on November 10 and 11. The winners will be crowned at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on November 29.
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