12 December, 2023

Three WDL champions named World Athletes of the Year 2023

Photo: Marta Gorczynska

Faith Kipyegon, Mondo Duplantis and Yulimar Rojas have all been crowned World Athletes of the Year in Monaco just months after winning the Wanda Diamond League title.

Three 2023 Wanda Diamond League champions - Faith Kipyegon, Mondo Duplantis and Yulimar Rojas - were crowned World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on Monday evening.

Kipyegon, Duplantis and Rojas all added another Diamond Trophy to their growing collection in 2023, while Kipyegon and Duplantis also broke world records in their chosen disciplines.

Kenyan distance legend Kipyegon made Wanda Diamond League history in mid-season when she broke three different world records in the space of just six weeks.

After breaking the 1500m world record with 3:49.11 in Florence, Kipyegon went on to clock 14:05.20 in the 5000m in Paris and 4:07.64 in the mile in Monaco. The performances made her the first athlete ever to break more than one world record in a single Diamond League season.

Kipyegon cruised to a comfortable 1500m victory at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene to claim her the fourth Diamond League title of her career and round off a breathtaking season.

Swedish pole vault star Duplantis also broke a world record, clearing 6.23m at the first attempt at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene. It was the seventh time Duplantis had broken the world record in the last three years and came after narrow misses at the Wanda Diamond League meetings in Zurich and Brussels in the previous weeks.

Duplantis can now boast three Wanda Diamond League titles, and may soon be eyeing his friend and rival Renaud Lavillenie's series record of seven Diamond Trophies.

Venezuelan triple jump ace Yulimar Rojas also claimed her third Diamond Trophy in 2023, winning four of the six Diamond League competitions and wrapping up the title comfortably with a world lead of 15.35m in Eugene.

She also staged a superb comeback in Budapest to win her fourth world title, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with a final round jump of 15.08m.

The other three World Athletes of the Year were five-time Diamond League champion and 2023 double world champion Noah Lyles, and marathon world record breakers Kelvin Kiptum and Tigist Assefa.

“The depth of talent and the outstanding performances in our sport this year more than justify the expansion of the World Athletics Awards to recognise the accomplishments by these six athletes across a range of disciplines,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.