Ruth Chepng’etich in as Faith Kipyegon, Noah Lyles miss in World Athletics Awards finalists

Three-time Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich is the only Kenyan athlete among the finalists for the 2024 Athlete of the Year awards.

The self-coached athlete became the first woman to break the 2:10 barrier in the Chicago Marathon back in October.

She shattered the world record at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, clocking an incredible 2:09:56 and winning the World Athletics Platinum Label Road race.

Her record-breaking run shaved almost two minutes from Tigist Assefa’s previous world record of 2:11:53, set last year in Berlin.

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She joins a list of highly-ranked athletes including Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Letsile Tebogo, Sifan Hassan, Julien Alfred, and Tamirat Tola.

Letsile Tebogo (Botswana)

The Batswana sprinter bounced back from the death of his mother to claim a stunning gold at the Paris Games ahead of, amongst others, fan-favourite Noah Lyles.

He won in an African record of 19.46 seconds, a time that took him to fifth on the all-time list. Tebogo also became the first African to win the Olympic 200 meters.

The 21-year-old returned to a rapturous welcome in Gaborone after the triumph with former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi greeting the sprinter and other Olympic athletes after he had declared an impromptu half-day holiday.

Since winning gold at the Olympics, he has won the 200m at Diamond League events in Lausanne, Silesia, Rome, and Zurich, the latter in an outstanding 19.55sec in wet and cold conditions.

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He ended his 2024 season with a loss after being defeated by Kenny Bednarek in the men's 200m final at the Brussels Diamond League. He settled for the second position in 19:80s.

Jakob Ingebritsen (Norway)

At the Paris Olympics, the Norwegian secured gold in the 5,000m and has enjoyed a stellar season that includes a new 3,000m world record and a Diamond League trophy.

Sifan Hassan (Netherlands)

Hassan had an incredible week of racing during the Olympics. With the marathon (42 kilometres) and her 10,000-meter run and two rounds of the 5,000 meters, she did just over 62 kilometres in Paris—38.5 miles.

She completed her own Tour de France by winning the women’s marathon on Sunday in an Olympic record time of 2:22:55. She also claimed bronze in the 5,000 and 10,000m races.

Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia Island)

Julien Alfred was on fire at the Paris Olympic Games, winning the gold in the women’s 100m and proceeding to claim a silver medal in the women’s 200m.

The sprinter was awarded the prestigious Best Female Athlete of the Paris 2024 Olympics by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).

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Mondo Duplantis (Sweden)

Swedish star Mondo Duplantis soared 6.25m* to set the ninth world pole vault record of his career and cap a gold medal-winning performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The 24-year-old has won every global men’s pole vault title since claiming his first Olympic crown in Tokyo three years ago.

With the victory in Paris, he became the second man to secure two pole vault golds at the Games, following the double achieved by USA’s Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956.

Other finalists include Sydney McLaughlin of the USA and Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia.