Sawe, Ngetich nominated for 2026 World Athlete of the Year award
World marathon record holder Sebastian Sawe and Road Running Championships women’s half marathon champion Agnes Jebet Ngetich are among 20 nominees named for the prestigious World Athlete of the Year award.
The winners will be announced at the World Athletics Awards gala on November 29 in Monaco.
The two Kenyan stars make the list after a breathtaking 2026 season that saw Sawe shatter the mythical two-hour barrier at the London Marathon in April and Ngetich win the world half marathon title in a women-only world record of 1:05:15. Ngetich also won the World Cross Country Championships senior women’s title and ran world leads of 8:08.95 for 3,000m and 28:58 for 10km.
According to World Athletics, an eight-strong panel of statisticians, two members from World Athletics and one from each of the six area associations, selected the nominees.
From the 20 (10 men and 10 women), a four-way vote, which closes on Saturday 17 October at midnight, will now determine their final ranking from first to 10th.
According to the WA press statement, each of the four voting groups will contribute 25 per cent of the final vote where World Athletics fans will vote by survey available via the World Athletics app, website and social media channels.
The groups include athletes who have competed at World Athletics Series events during 2026 and members of the media, including TV and radio commentators, written press journalists and content creators who have been accredited at World Athletics Series events in 2026.
Also set to vote are World Athletics Council members, commission members, athlete representatives, World Athletics Series event local organising committee chairs, Diamond League, World Indoor Tour Gold and Continental Tour Gold meeting directors, member federation presidents, official partners, and World Athletics staff.
World Athletics will announce six finalists, three men and three women, on 10 and 11 November and invite them to Monaco for the World Athletics Awards on 29 November, where each winner will be announced live on stage.
Sawe is up against a strong men’s field that includes USA sprinter Kenneth Bednarek, who achieved a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship, winning the 100m in 9.85 and 200m in a world-leading and personal best time of 19.52, and Italian Andy Diaz Hernandez who won World Indoor, Diamond League and European triple jump titles and also jumped 18.15m to move to fourth on the world all-time list.
Others in the list are Brazil’s Alison Dosantos, who set a world 400m hurdles record of 45.80 and won the Ultimate title in 45.98, the third-fastest time in history. He was undefeated in 11 hurdles races, including the Diamond League Final.
Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga won World Athletics Ultimate Championships, Diamond League, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games javelin titles and also set a world-leading and national record of 92.62m. He won 13 of the 14 competitions he participated in.
There is also Ja’Kobe Tharp from the USA, who set a world record in 110m hurdles of 12.75 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships this year, won the World Athletics Ultimate Championships and Diamond League titles and broke 13 seconds in six races.
Ngetich, 25, who has been unstoppable this season will be up against Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa who won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, the third-fastest time in history and also bagged the London Marathon in a women-only world record of 2:15:41 in April.
Then there is USA’s Chase Jackson, who twice improved the North American shot put record to 21.02m and 21.14m, clinched the World Indoor title and set a Diamond League record to regain the Diamond Trophy.
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden from the USA is also a nominee. She won a sprint double at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships and set world leads of 10.62 in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m, the latter putting her third on the world all-time list.
Other honours to be bestowed at the gala are men’s and women’s Rising Star, Coach of the Year, the President’s Award and, for the first time, the Moment of the Year award.
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