Double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge has been nominated for the World Athletics Male Athlete of the year award after his scintillating run that saw him successfully defend the Olympic title.
Kipchoge became only the third man in the history of the Olympic Games to win back to back titles in the Marathon when he clocked 2hrs, 8mins and 38secs to clinch the title in Tokyo.
His winning time ahead of second placed Abdi Negeeye of the Netherlands was also the largest winning margin in men’s Olympic marathon since 1972
His performance from the Japanese capital has seen him earn a nomination in the long list of 10 athletes who will battle for the ultimate crown.
A three-way voting process will determine the top five finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family 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% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Saturday 6 November. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by World Athletics.
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge crosses the finish line to win the men’s marathon final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Sapporo on August 8, 2021. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Also nominated alongside Kipchoge is Ugandan teammate at Global Sports Communication Joshua Cheptegei. He clinched two medals in Tokyo, winning gold in the 5,000m and silver in double the distance.
He also has a world-leading time of 8:09.55 for two miles.
The two will battle for the award with a host of European athletes.
World 400m hurdles record holder Karsten Warholm from Norway who also won the Olympic title and the Diamond League trophy has been shortlisted for the award.
Olympic and Diamond League shot put champion Ryan Crouser from the USA, who is undefeated all year and also holds the indoor and outdoor world records is also in the top 10 and so is Swedish pole vault star Mondo Duplantis who clinched the Olympic and Diamond League titles this year.
Norwegian 1500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who also holds the European records in both the 1500m and 5,000m, Portuguese triple jumper Pedro Pichardo, Swedish discus thrower Daniel Stahl,Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou and Canadian decathlete Damian Warner have also all been nominated.
All the 10 nominees are Olympic champions.
Kipchoge won the award twice in succession in 2018 and 2019 and will look to become only the third man in history to win the award more than three times.
Moroccan 1500m legend Hicham El Guerrouj won it three times while Jamaican sprinting sensation Usain Bolt won it a record six times.
Duplantis won the award last year.
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