World Athlete of the Year 2024: focus on finalists

As the World Athletics Awards 2024 draws near, we shine a spotlight on the 12 finalists – six women and six men – in contention for the World Athlete of the Year awards.

Each category – track, field and out of stadium – features two finalists. A final round of voting – cast by fans of the sport – remains open until 10 November to decide the overall World Athletes of the Year.

Julien Alfred (LCA)
Women’s track athlete of the year finalist

Julien Alfred won Saint Lucia’s first ever senior global medal in athletics when she stormed to the world indoor 60m title in Glasgow in March and she went on to become her nation's first Olympic medallist in any sport, getting 100m gold in Paris in August.

She left the French capital with 200m silver to go with her 100m title. In the shorter event she ran a national record of 10.72 to win and in the 200m she clocked 22.08 to secure silver.

“It means a lot to me, my coach, my country, which I’m sure is celebrating now,” Alfred said after her 100m win. “Growing up, I used to be on the field struggling. With no shoes, running barefoot, running in my school uniform, running all over the place. I hope this gold medal will help Saint Lucia build a new stadium, to help the sport grow.”

Ruth Chepngetich (KEN)
Women’s out of stadium athlete of the year finalist

Ruth Chepngetich took almost two minutes off the world record when she won the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56 in October.

Becoming the first woman to break 2:10 for 26.2 miles, she secured her third Chicago Marathon victory and a more than four-minute PB. Remarkably, only nine athletes went quicker in the men’s race. Her performance also included a split of 1:04:16 at halfway.

“I feel so great. I’m very proud of myself,” she said. “This is my dream. I fought a lot, thinking about the world record.”

Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
Men’s field athlete of the year finalist

Mondo Duplantis improved the world pole vault record three times in 2024, meaning he has now revised the global mark 10 times since his first world record in Torun in 2020.

He also retained his Olympic and world indoor titles, winning gold in Paris with one of those world records as he cleared 6.25m to add a centimetre to the height he achieved at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen in April. He went on to soar 6.26m at the Diamond League meeting in Silesia after the Olympics in August.

“The biggest dream since I was a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics,” he said, “and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”

Sifan Hassan (NED)
Women’s out of stadium athlete of the year finalist

Sifan Hassan achieved a medal treble at the Olympics in Paris, winning the final athletics gold medal of the Games with her triumph in the marathon in an Olympic record of 2:22:55. 

That record run came just 37 hours after Hassan claimed bronze in the 10,000m, and six days after her first medal in the French capital – also bronze – in the 5000m.

As a result, she became the first woman to win medals in the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon at the same Games, and the first athlete since Emil Zatopek, who won all three men’s titles in Helsinki in 1952.

“When I finished, the whole moment was a release,” Hassan said after her marathon win. “It is unbelievable. I have never experienced anything like that.”

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
Men’s track athlete of the year finalist

Jakob Ingebrigtsen became Olympic 5000m champion in Paris and followed that with a world record performance over 3000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Silesia two weeks later.

In Paris, Ingebrigtsen ran a final lap of 53.2 and reached the finish line in 13:13.66 to take the 5000m title. It was the second consecutive Olympics in which Ingebrigtsen had earned a gold medal, joining his 1500m gold from Tokyo.

Then, in Silesia, Ingebrigtsen shattered one of the longest standing track world records, running 7:17.55 to take more than three seconds off the 3000m mark set by Daniel Komen in 1996.

“I was hoping to challenge the world record here, but based on my training, I can never predict exactly what kind of time I am capable of,” he said in Silesia. “I would not have imagined I could run 7:17, though.”

Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR)
Women’s field athlete of the year finalist

Yaroslava Mahuchikh also claimed Olympic gold and set a world record in 2024. Her world high jump record came first as she improved one of the longest-standing marks on the books when she cleared 2.10m at the Meeting de Paris – part of the Wanda Diamond League – on 7 July.

That added one centimetre to the world record set by Stefka Kostadinova at the 1987 World Championships in Rome.

She went on to win the Olympic title on her return to Paris in August. A perfect scorecard up to 2.00m, which she also cleared on her first attempt, secured her the title on countback.

“Coming into this competition, I had feelings that I could jump 2.07m and maybe 2.10m,” said Mahuchikh after her world record. “Finally, I signed Ukraine to the history of world athletics.”

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Women’s track athlete of the year finalist

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone retained her Olympic 400m hurdles title in style as she took 0.28 off her own world record by clocking 50.37 in Paris.

It was the sixth world record of her career, following her first of 51.90 set in Eugene in 2021.

She returned to the track two days later to form part of USA’s gold medal-winning women’s 4x400m team, running the second leg in 47.71 as the quartet clocked 3:15.27 - the second-fastest time in history.

“It’s amazing to see our sport continue to grow, for people to want to watch the 400m hurdles,” she said after her 400m hurdles performance. “I knew it was going to be a tough race. An amazing competition all the way round.” 

Brian Pintado (ECU)
Men’s out of stadium athlete of the year finalist

Brian Pintado became a double Olympic medallist in Paris, winning the 20km race walk title and then securing marathon race walk mixed relay silver six days later.

His 20km win in 1:18:55 saw him claim the first athletics gold medal of the Games. He also secured his country's first Olympic gold medal in athletics since fellow race walker Jefferson Perez won gold in the same discipline at the 1996 Olympics.

He then teamed up with Glenda Morejon to finish second in the inaugural Olympic marathon race walk mixed relay.

“It was insane,” said Pintado after his 20km race walk win. “In the last few metres, I realised I was completely alone, and seeing the finish line I just kept thinking, ‘I'm the Olympic champion, it's me’.”

Letsile Tebogo (BOT)
Men’s track athlete of the year finalist

In winning the 200m title at the Paris Olympics, Letsile Tebogo claimed a first ever Olympic gold medal in any sport for Botswana.

He ran an African record of 19.46 – a time that moved him to fifth on the world all-time list – and that performance followed his sixth-place finish in the 100m final. He went on to form part of Botswana’s silver medal-winning men’s 4x400m team.

“It was really a beautiful race for me,” he said after the 200m final. “When we made it to the final, my coach just told me: ‘Now my job is done, it’s up to you to see what you can do. Whether it’s a medal or not, just finish the race healthy.’ That’s all I could have wished for. I’m happy I finished the race healthier than before.”

Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE)
Men’s field athlete of the year finalist

Miltiadis Tentoglou won two global gold medals in 2024, retaining his world indoor long jump title in Glasgow and then successfully defending his Olympic title in Paris.

In Glasgow, Tentoglou secured top spot in an incredibly close contest. With just one centimetre separating the three medallists, it matched the 2012 edition for the closest ever World Indoor Championships long jump final. Tentoglou won on countback after soaring a best of 8.22m.

He then jumped 8.48m in Paris to become the first man since four-time winner Carl Lewis in 1996 to retain the Olympic long jump title.

“It’s a great achievement," said Tentoglou after his Olympic title win. “I didn’t think my jump was going to be enough because the other guys are very talented and capable. I was pushing throughout to do more.”

Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)
Women’s field athlete of the year finalist

Nafissatou Thiam retained her Olympic heptathlon title in Paris, becoming the first combined events athlete in history to win three Olympic gold medals.

After her victories in Rio and Tokyo, her score of 6880 secured her the top spot in Paris. It is the highest of all her Olympic title-winning scores and ended the season as the world lead.

Her performance included an outdoor PB of 15.54m in the shot put and an 800m PB of 2:10.62.

“In sports you give everything you have in every moment,” she said. “You have to take whatever the sport gives you, and it can be nothing. But today it’s a lot, and I’m grateful for that.”

Tamirat Tola (ETH)
Men’s out of stadium athlete of the year finalist

He might have been called into the Ethiopian team for Paris as a late replacement, but Tamirat Tola made the very most of the opportunity as he won the marathon in an Olympic record of 2:06:26.

Racing over the demanding course in challenging hot conditions, Tola improved on the previous Olympic record of 2:06:32 set at the Beijing 2008 Games by Sammy Wanjiru.

“I was the reserve in the Ethiopian team, but when Sisay (Lemma) had injuries, then I had a chance to represent him,” he said. “I was fully prepared and knew I could fulfil my dream. I am happy to do that today.”