15 November, 2023

Five WDL champions nominated for World Athlete of the Year 2023

Photo: Dan Vernon

Wanda Diamond League champions such as Mondo Duplantis, Faith Kipyegon and Shericka Jackson are among the ten nominees for World Athletics' male and female World Athlete of the Year in 2023.

Five Wanda Diamond League champions are in the running for the World Athlete of the Year award in 2023 after another record-breaking year in athletics' premier one-day series.

Earlier this week, World Athletics released the final list of nominees following a three-way voting process involving fans and experts. There are five finalists in each of the men's and women's award, all of whom achieved sensational performances across a range of disciplines in 2023.

Four of the five finalists for the women's award won the Wanda Diamond League title in 2023.

Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas defended her title once again in the women's triple jump, clearing a world leading 15.35m at the series final in Eugene. Dutch star Femke Bol also continued her dominance in the women's 400m hurdles, winning six of seven meetings and setting a new Diamond League record of 51.45 on the way to her third successive Diamond Trophy.

Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson completed a Diamond League double with the 100m and 200m titles, becoming only the second woman ever to win two separate Diamond League titles on back to back days. Jackson also set a new series record in the 200m with 21.48 in Brussels.

Faith Kipyegon enjoyed perhaps the most incredible run of form ever seen in the Diamond League when she broke three world records in little more than a month in June and July. Having smashed the 1500m record in Florence, the Kenyan star went on to do the same in the 5000m in Paris and the mile in Monaco. She is the only athlete ever to break more than one world record in a single Diamond League season, and ended the year as series champion in the women's 1500m.

All four women were also crowned world champion in their chosen discipline at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

The list of finalists for the men's award includes one Wanda Diamond League champion. Mondo Duplantis won his third successive series title in 2023, after rampaging to six victories in seven meetings over the course of the season. He wrapped up the year in style, setting a new world record of 6.23m at the first attempt at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene.

Three of the remaining finalists for the men's awards - Neeraj Chopra, Ryan Crouser and Noah Lyles - were crowned Wanda Diamond League champions in either 2021 or 2022. The other finalists are marathon world record breakers Tigist Assefa and Kelvin Kiptum.