Faith Cherotich and Jaydon Hibbert
As the countdown to the World Athletics Awards 2022 continues, we shine a spotlight on the five women and five men who have been nominated for this year’s Rising Star awards.
The winners of the Rising Star Awards will be selected by an international panel of experts and be announced on World Athletics’ social media platforms in early December.
Faith Cherotich
Less than a year after claiming world U20 bronze, Kenyan steeplechaser Faith Cherotich made a strong statement in her first race of 2022.
Competing in her first international race against experienced senior opponents, Cherotich placed second at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi, finishing behind Norah Jeruto – who would go on to win the world title later in the year – and ahead of Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai. Despite the unhelpful altitude of Nairobi, Cherotich smashed her PB with 9:12.04, a world age-17 best.
After winning Kenya’s World U20 Trials with ease, Cherotich headed to the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 as one of the favourites in her event. She exceeded expectations and won by the length of the entire home straight, winning in 9:16.14.
Kenya's Faith Cherotich on her way to the world U20 3000m steeplechase title in Cali (© Oscar Munoz Badilla)
Cherotich went on to reduce her PB two more times in 2022, first at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Brussels, where she clocked 9:09.63, and then at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich, where she finished third in 9:06.14, moving her to third on the world U20 all-time list.
Cherotich, who turned 18 in mid-July, will still be an U20 athlete for 2023.
Jaydon Hibbert
Jamaican triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert went the entire 2022 season undefeated in his specialist event.
His season started in January, and his first PB of the year came just two weeks later in mid-February as he jumped 16.10m. He broke it again in March (16.56m) and April (16.66m).
Later in April, Hibbert won the Carifta Games title with a wind-assisted 17.05m – his first leap beyond the 17-metre barrier. He then went on to win at the Penn Relays in what was his first competition outside Kingston in 2022.
Hibbert returned to the Jamaican capital for his country’s senior National Championships in late June. Competing against athletes eight years his senior, Hibbert won with 16.41m.
His big goal of the year, though, was the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22, where he was determined to upgrade the silver medal he won at the 2021 edition.
He effectively ended the competition with his opening leap as he bounded out to a lifetime best of 17.27m. He followed it with an effort of 16.82m, the second-best jump of his life, and then he passed his four remaining attempts, safe in the knowledge that he had done enough to win. No one else in the field got within a metre of Hibbert’s winning mark.
Not only did he break the championship record, his leap moved Hibbert to equal eighth on the world U20 all-time list and second on the world U18 all-time list.
And the 17-year-old Hibbert will still be young enough to compete at the 2024 World U20 Championships, where he could become the first man to win back-to-back world U20 titles in the triple jump.
