Countdown
Eliud Kipchoge and Mare Dibaba have earned the most votes in the road running category in the first round of voting for the 2015 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award.
Kipchoge won the London Marathon earlier this year in a world-leading 2:04:42. The Kenyan then bettered that world-leading mark when winning the Berlin Marathon in September in 2:04:00.
Dibaba started her year with a 2:19:52 victory at the Xiamen Marathon. After finishing second at the Boston Marathon, the Ethiopian went on to win the marathon title at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
Last month the IAAF Family* was asked to select nine men and nine women from each of the following categories: sprints, hurdles, middle and long distance, road running, race walking, jumps, throws, combined events and multi-terrain.
The longlist will comprise the top-voted athletes in each category. The candidates from the other categories in the world athlete of the year voting will be announced over the coming days.
An international panel of 10 experts** will then select the finalists – three men and three women – the names of whom will be announced on 17 and 18 November.
IAAF
*IAAF Family: IAAF & IAF Council members; IAAF national member federations; IAAF Committee & Commission members; IAAF meeting directors; IAAF athlete ambassadors; athletes’ representatives; top athletes; members of the international press; IAAF staff members and the IAAF’s official partners
**The international panel of athletics experts includes representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF
