Ferdinand Omanyala & Noah Lyles make their choice for Women’s World Athlete of the Year award

ATHLETICS Ferdinand Omanyala & Noah Lyles make their choice for Women’s World Athlete of the Year award

Joel Omotto 09:39 - 12.10.2023

World 100m and 200m champion Noah Lyles and Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala have cast their vote for their preferred Women’s World Athlete of the Year from the 11 shortlisted.

World 100m champion Noah Lyles and Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala have cast their vote in favour of multiple world champion Faith Kipyegon in the contest for the World Athletics’ Women’s World Athlete of the Year.

Kipyegon is among 11 nominees from six continentals who have been shortlisted for a three-way voting process that will determine the finalists.

The 29-year-old, who won 1,500m and 5,000m at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary had a standout season that also included three world records in 1,500m, 5,000m, and the mile which makes her hot favourite for the prestigious award.

She is, however, up against Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa who was selected due to her Berlin Marathon exploits that saw her clinch the title while breaking the world record. 

Dutchwoman Femke Bol has also been selected thanks to her hard work that saw her become the World 400m hurdles champion and World Indoor 400m record holder.

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson also made the cut courtesy of her performance in the Diamond League where she won the 100m and 200m at the Prefontaine Classic. Jackson also defended the 200m world title and earned silver in the 100m at the World Championships.

American Sha’Carri Richardson also made the shortlist after her performance at the World Championships where she bagged the 100m title and finished third in the 200m as well as Kenyan-born Bahraini Winfred Mutile Yavi who claimed gold in 3,000m steeplechase at the Worlds.

However, despite Richardson being on the list, Lyles has voted for Kipyegon same as Omanyala who stuck by his Kenyan compatriot. The two voted on X (formerly Twitter) where they retweeted Kipyegon as their preferred female athlete of the year.

World triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, Japana’s Haruka Kitaguchi, the world javelin champion, world high jump gold medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine, race walker Maria Perez of Spain and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, the 10,000m world champion, are the other athletes that have been shortlisted.

The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms.

Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube this week; a 'like' on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube or a retweet on X will count as one vote.

The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50 percent of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 percent of the final result.

Voting will close on Saturday, October 28. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics on November 13-14 before the winners are revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms on December 11.

Eliud Kipchoge and David Rudisha are the only Kenyans who have won the prestigious award with Vivian Cheruiyot brutally missing out on the 2011 gong despite winning two gold medals at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea that year.