Athletics Australia – News – World\’s best shortlisted for 2010 honours

As the countdown to the 2010 World Athletics Gala continues, the IAAF has this week announced the male and female finalists in the race to be crowned World Athlete of the Year.

Following a three-week poll which combined online votes from track and field fans around the world and email votes from the recognised IAAF Family, the five male athletes who gathered the most votes are:

Tyson Gay (USA)
100m/200m and 4x100m relay
> Won seven out of eight sprint finals
> Defeated Usain Bolt over 100m in Stockholm
> Ran the fastest 100m time of the year at 9.78
> Helped the Americas’ 4x100m team win the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup

David Oliver (USA)
110m hurdles
> Unbeaten in 15 finals in the 110m hurdles
> Won the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
> Won the Samsung Diamond Race
> Set the fourth and joint fifth fastest times ever with 12.89 and 12.90

David Rudisha (KEN)
800m
> Set two world records over 800m (1:41.09 and 1:41.01)
> Won the African Championships
> Won the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
> Unbeaten sequence of 11 finals and four preliminaries

Zersenay Tadese (ERI)
20km and half marathon
> World record-breaker in the half marathon and 20km with marks of 58:23 and 55:21
> Individual and team silvers at the IAAF/SINOPEC World Half Marathon Championships

Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)
Javelin throw
> Won the European Championships
> Won the Samsung Diamond Race
> Won the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
> Set a world leading mark of 90.37m

For the past four years the No.1 100m sprinter of the season has gone on to become the World Athlete of the Year: Asafa Powell in 2006; Tyson Gay in 2007 and Usain Bolt the last two editions, before then-middle distance runners Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele took centre stage of the World Athletics Gala, the Moroccan winning three in a row from 2001 and Bekele grabbing the honours in 2004 and 2005.

Will a sprinter be crowned again this year? Or will a middle distance runner take back the trophy? Will a distance runner finally succeed Haile Gebrselassie, the last long distance runner to win Athlete of the Year back in 1998? Is it time for another thrower to become the Athlete of the Year – only two throwers were ever crowned; Steve Backley and Jan Zelezny respectively 20 and 10 years ago.

One has to go back even further in history to find a sprint hurdler on top of the world, only Colin Jackson the year of his world record and Roger Kingdom before him were presented with the ultimate trophy.

All of the above disciplines are once again contesting for World Athlete of the Year in the guise of Tyson Gay (sprint) David Oliver (hurdles), David Rudisha (middle distance), Zersenay Tadese (long distance) and Andreas Thorkildsen (throws).

In the women's category, athletes representing five different countries and three different continents will battle it out for the crown.

Female finalists (in alphabetical order):

Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM)
Milcah Chemos Cheywa (KEN)
Jessica Ennis (GBR)
Allyson Felix (USA)
Blanka Vlasic (CRO)

The IAAF Family vote consisted of a list of 1786 recipients including IAAF and IAF Council Members, IAAF Member Federations, IAAF Committee and Commission Members, IAAF Meeting Directors, IAAF Ambassadors, Leading Athletes, Athletes’ Representatives, IAAF Staff Members and selected members of the International Press.

The winners of the 2010 World Athlete of the Year Awards will be announced on stage during the 2010 World Athletics Gala in Monaco on November 21, 2010. They will be presented their trophies by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF and IAAF President Lamine Diack.