Faith Kipyegon among nominees for Laureus World Sports Awards

Two-time Olympic champion over 1500m Faith Kipyegon has once again landed herself a chance at landing another gong after being shortlisted for the 2024 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.

Kipyegon, who late last year bagged the World Athlete of the Year Award for Track Events, will be up against five other female stars, who also enjoyed a decorated 2023 season in their respective fields.

For Kipyegon, year 2023 kicked off with a season opening win at the Sirikwa Cross Country, before breaking three world records in 49 days – 1,500m, one mile and 5,000m.

First, the 29-year-old Kenyan improved the world 1500m record to 3:49.11 in Florence, taking almost a full second off the previous mark.

A week later, and despite having raced the 5000m just twice before, she improved the world record for that event, too, clocking 14:05.20 in Paris to shave 1.42 seconds from the old record.

Her third world record came in Monaco, where she smashed the previous mile mark by five seconds, clocking 4:07.64.

Faith Kipyegon's world championship winning spikes donated to MOWA

Then, in Budapest, she won her third senior world 1500m title and her first world 5000m crown.

To win the award, set to be staged in Madrid on April 22, Kipyegon will battle it out against Aitana Bonmati (Football, Spain), Shericka Jackson (Athletics, Jamaica), Sha’Carri Richardson (Athletics, USA), Mikaela Shiffrin (Alpine Skiing, USA) and Iga Swiatek (Tennis, Poland).

Richardson won a classic 100 meters from lane nine in her first global final and added 4x100 meters gold in 2023, while fellow sprinter Jackson’s winning time of 21.41 seconds in the 200 meters was the second fastest all-time, seven hundredths of a second short of Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 35-year-old mark.

Swiatek on the other hand won her third French Open title in 2023, and regained her No.1 spot in the world rankings with victory at the WTA Finals in Cancun.

Decorated footballer Bonmati won the World Cup and the Golden Ball for the tournament's best player with Spain, Liga F and the UEFA Women’s Champions League with FC Barcelona Femení plus the Ballon d'Or Feminin, with Shiffrin passing the all-time mark of 86 World Cup wins set by Ingemar Stenmark, while also winning her seventh World Championship gold in giant slalom.

The official Nominations announcement was staged at the historic Casa de Correos in Madrid, headquarters of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, and the judging process will involve a vote by the 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy.