2025 World Athletics Photograph of the Year finalists (
Emilee Chinn / Vegard Grott / Fabrizio Bensch)
Three finalists for the Photograph of the Year award have been selected ahead of the World Athletics Awards 2025.
From the 141 images that were submitted, a panel of judges – comprising two-time world 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson, four-time world triple jump champion Christian Taylor, photographer and Paris 2024 photo chief Pascal Rondeau, and World Athletics digital creative manager Christel El Saneh – narrowed the entries to 10 shortlisted images before deciding on the three finalists.
Photographers from 41 countries across all six continental areas submitted entries.
The shortlisted images will form part of a digital exhibition on the World Athletics website that will go live later this month.
The winning photograph will be announced on World Athletics’ platforms as part of the World Athletics Awards 2025.
The finalists
Fabrizio Bensch
'Champions under the flag'
Photo of the Year finalist - Champions under the flag (© World Athletics 
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)
Men’s 100m bronze medallist Noah Lyles of the USA celebrates with his teammate Tara Davis-Woodhall, gold medallist from the women's long jump, at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25
Emilee Chinn
'Perseverance'
Photo of the Year finalist - Perseverance (© World Athletics Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Geordie Beamish of New Zealand avoids the foot of Jean-Simon Desgagnes of Canada as he falls to the ground during the men's 3000m steeplechase heats on day one of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25
Vegard Grott
'Shadows'
Photo of the Year finalist - Shadows (© World Athletics Vegard Grøtt / Bildbyran)
Narve Gilje Nordas of Norway, Samuel Pihlstrom of Sweden and athletes compete in the men’s Dream Mile during the Bislett Games Diamond League competition in Oslo, Norway
About the photographers
Fabrizio Bensch (GER)
Fabrizio Bensch studied political science at the Freie Universitat Berlin and started his career as a photojournalist in 1989, several months before the Berlin Wall came down. He has worked for the Reuters Newspictures Service, based in Berlin, since 1992, covering breaking news, politics and sports around the world. He has covered conflicts in former Yugoslavia, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Emilee Chinn (USA)
Emilee Chinn is a staff sports photographer for Getty Images based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Her work covers major US professional sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA) and collegiate athletics. She won the 75th College Photographer of the Year competition for her sports portfolio along with awards of excellence and was recognised in 2023 on the 'Forbes 30 Under 30' for her work with the Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati sports.
Vegard Grott (NOR)
Vegard Grott has worked as an agency photographer since 2011 and was employed by Bildbyran in 2017. He has covered numerous Olympics and other major sporting events, in addition to being the team photographer for Norway’s national football team. On three occasions, Grott has been named one of the best sports photographers in the world by Pictures of the Year International and the National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism.
World Athletics
