Wayde van Niekerk shortlisted for Athlete of the Year

By James K. Attaglo Wilson

South African duo – Wayde van Niekerk and Luvo Manyonga have been nominated for the 2017 World Athlete of the Year Awards, the International Athletics Association Federation [IAAF] has announced.

Wayde van Niekerk, who is likely to win the individual gong will battle it out with United States fastest – Christian Taylor and Jamaica’s Omar McLeod.

In the women’s category, Almaz Ayana will battle it out with Russia’s Maria Lasitskene, Ekaterina Stefanidi [Greece], Hellen Obiri [Kenya], and Australia’s Sally Pearson.

Fans can vote online via the IAAF’s Twitter and Facebook platforms from this week, while members of the IAAF Council and the IAAF Family will cast their votes by email.

The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.

Meanwhile, voting closes on October 16 and then the three male and three female finalists will be named by the IAAF.

The nominees selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF included the following:

Women

Almaz Ayana (ETH)

Maria Lasitskene (ANA)

Hellen Obiri (KEN)

Sally Pearson (AUS)

Sandra Perkovic (CRO)

Brittney Reese (USA)

Caster Semenya (RSA)

Ekaterini Stefanidi (GRE)

Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)

Anita Wlodarczyk (POL)

Men

Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT)

Pawel Fajdek (POL)

Mohamed Farah (GBR)

Sam Kendricks (USA)

Elijah Manangoi (KEN)

Luvo Manyonga RSA)

Omar McLeod (JAM)

Christian Taylor (USA)

Wayde van Niekerk (RSA)

Johannes Vetter (GER)

The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards in Monaco on November 24.

The awardees for last year’s event was Usain Bolt [six times] and Almaz Ayana.

Follow us on twitter @sports24gh| Facebook – sports24gh

Email: sports24ghana@gmail.com| info@sports24ghana.com

www.sports24ghana.com