Manangoi, Obiri out of IAAF Awards

What you need to know:

  • Kenya’s world champions Elijah Manangoi and Hellen Obiri have failed to make the final list for the 2017 IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards.
  • Manangoi and Obiri, who won the 1,500m and 5,000m titles at the World Championships in London in August this year, were missing from the final list released by the IAAF on Monday.
  • The World high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim from Bahrain, World and Olympic 10,000m champion Mo Farah from Britain and Olympic and World 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk made it to the last three in the men’s category.

Kenya’s world champions Elijah Manangoi and Hellen Obiri have failed to make the final list for the 2017 IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards.

Manangoi and Obiri, who won the 1,500m and 5,000m titles at the World Championships in London in August this year, were missing from the final list released by the IAAF on Monday.

The World high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim from Bahrain, World and Olympic 10,000m champion Mo Farah from Britain and Olympic and World 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk made it to the last three in the men’s category.

World and Olympic 10,000m champion Ethiopian Almaz Ayana, who also who silver in 5,000m at the World Championships, World and Olympic pole vault champion Ekaterini Stefanidi (Greece) and Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium), who also won gold in heptathlon at 2016 Rio Olympics and 2017 World Championships, made it in women’s contest.

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

A three-way voting process determined the finalists where the IAAF Council and the IAAF Family casted their votes by email, while fans voted online via the IAAF's social media platforms.

The IAAF Council’s vote counted for 50 per cent of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result. Voting closed on October 16.

The finalists are (in alphabetical order):

Men: Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT), Mo Farah (GBR), Wayde van Niekerk (RSA)

Women: Almaz Ayana (ETH), Ekaterini Stefanidi (GRE), Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)