After a spectacular track season, time to honour athletics stars who stormed to stunning victories this year kicks off in earnest.
Kenya’s decorated track stars oozed class and cemented the country’s legacy as an athletics powerhouse.
Their medals, especially at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships from September 13 to 21, further raised Kenya’s profile at the global arena, as they ranked second internationally behind the USA.
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In December, the big shots will be hoping to dress elegantly for another award ceremony after overcoming strong opposition in 2025.
Over the years, World Athletics has honoured the world’s triumphant athletes in its annual awards, and Kenyan stars have dominated the stage.
Double world and Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet and four-time 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon were on Monday nominated for the 2025 Track Athlete of the Year.
After a stellar season, world 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi is once again in the nomination list, this time in the 2025 men’s Track Athlete of the Year.
“The nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved during another memorable year for the sport, which peaked with the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25,” the global governing body said on Monday.
And as the season to honour their achievements comes, an expectant Kenya watches the proceedings keenly as it hopes that its athletics bigwigs secure the prestigious
Aside from winning gold medals at the 2025 World Championships, Chebet and Kipyegon smashed the 5000m and 1500m world records, respectively, at the Eugene Diamond League in July.
After the records fell, Chebet went ahead to bag the 5000m and 10,000m titles in Tokyo while Kipyegon brought home a gold medal in 1500m and silver in 5000m.
Global athletics enthusiasts are confronted with the hurdle of voting for their favourite between the two superstars alongside other peers before the top achievers ahead of the final list for top honours in December.
Last year, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan received the Athlete of the Year awards.
Tebogo was richly acknowledged in Monaco last December at the World Athletics Awards 2024.
He earned Botswana’s first Olympic gold medal in the 200m at the Paris Games in an African record of 19.46.
Sifan Hassan’s medal treble in Paris was capped by her winning the final athletics gold medal of the Games with her triumph in the marathon in an Olympic record of 2:22:55.
The Dutch star became the first woman to win medals in the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon at the same Games, and the first athlete since Emil Zatopek, who won all three men’s titles in Helsinki in 1952.
“There are five nominees for these two categories, and a vote will take place to identify the two finalists for each,” World Athletics said in a statement.
The statement went on to state: “The vote to determine the Track Athlete of the Year finalists is now open on World Athletics social media platforms – on Facebook, Instagram and X. It will close on October 19.”
Kenyan stars such as two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and 800m record holder David Rudisha have seen their achievements handsomely rewarded by World Athletics.
Kipyegon, who is the record holder in the Mile and marathon record holder the late Kelvin Kiptum were named World Athletes of the Year in 2023 – track and outside stadia, respectively, at the World Athletics Gala in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Wanyonyi, who was a world silver medallist at the time, and then World 3,000m steeplechase bronze winner Faith Cherotich (now a world champion) secured the World Rising Star awards in the men and women categories respectively.
Cherotich has not been nominated for the women’s Track Athlete of the Year.
After two world U20 medals – gold in 2022 and bronze in 2021 – Cherotich made it on to a senior global podium in 2023.
In a historic feat, four out of the five Kenyan athletes who made the final cut in 2023 brought home the coveted global awards.
At the Budapest World Championships, making her senior international debut, Cherotich won her heat and then finished third in the 3000m steeplechase final four days later, improving her PB to 9:00.69 when claiming bronze behind Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi and her Kenyan compatriot Beatrice Chepkoech, the world record-holder.
Cherotich came of age in 2025, storming to the world title in Tokyo.
Daniel Ebenyo lost to Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey in the International Fair Play Award of the year 2023.