World Athlete of the Year
Kenyan duo Faith Kipyegon and Eliud Kipchoge and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei have all been named on the final shortlists for the World Athlete of the Year awards. The winners will be announced at a virtual event on 01 December this year.
In August Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, 27, won the Olympic 1500m title, becoming only the third woman to retain her title after becoming a mother in-between Games. She is the only African woman to be on the final Women’s Award
list, the other nominees being Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands, Sydney McLaughlin (United States}, Yulimar Rojas, (Venezuela) and Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah.
There are two African Contenders for the Men’s Award. They are Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda and Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. The other three nominees are Ryan Crouser (United States), Mondo Duplantis from Sweden and Norwegian Karsten Warholm. In Tokyo this year 25-year-old Cheptegei was the 5,000m Olympic champion and a silver medallist for the 10,000m. 36-year-old Kipchoge won the men’s marathon title at the Olympics, already being a two-time World Athlete of the Year.
In the Female Rising Star Award (under-20) the contenders are Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain, Silja Kosonen from Finland, Athing Mu (United States) and two African women, viz Namibian Christine Mboma, and Ethiopian Zerfe Wondemagegn.
Sean Burrell and Erriyon Knighton, both from the United States, Sasha Zhoya from France and two African men, viz Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Ethiopian Tadese Worku, are the finalists in the Male Rising Star Award
(under-20) category.
The Federation of the Year Award will go to one of the following: Athletics Australia, Athletics Kenya, Czech Athletics Federation, Costa Rica Athletics Federation, Ecuador Athletics Federation or Japan Association of Athletics Federations.
All in all, there are several African athletes who may be the winners in any of the above categories, so start your research now and get your bets in for this prestigious event – keep the date – 01 December 2021!
This sportsbook news update was brought to you by gambling.africa.
Author: David Beggs
