In a year filled with exceptional athletic achievements, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon has soared to the top breaking three world records in 2023 alone. Kipyegon’s outstanding performances have earned her a space at nominations as one of the 11 finalists for the 2023 women’s world athlete of the year, a recognition that could make her the first Kenyan woman to clinch this prestigious award.
The last time a female broke the world record like that was Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana back in 2016 and now Faith Kipyegon is poised to etch her name into history, following her remarkable feats on the track.
The finalists for the women’s world athlete of the year award will be chosen through a three way voting process, ensuring a fair and representative selection. Fans from around the world will be allowed to cast their votes through world athlete’s social media channels, while the esteemed world athletics council and the broader world athletics family will exercise their votes through a provided email.
Each nominee will receive a unique graphic shared on various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. To support their favorite athletes, fans can simply “like” the graphic or retweet the nominee’s post on social media. Each “like” and retweet will count as one vote, allowing passionate fans to rally behind their chosen athlete.
The final outcome of the process will be determined by a balanced combination of voices. The world athletics council’s vote will carry the weight of 50% in deciding the award recipient, while the votes from the world athletics family and the general public each contribute 25% to the outcome.
Voting of the women’s world athlete of the year will conclude on Saturday, the 28th of October, at midnight. After which the votes will be counted and the top five ladies and men will be selected as the nominees for the prestigious award.
Kipyegon’s journey to secure this award faces a lot of stiff competition from fellow African athletes which include contenders from Ethiopia among which Gudaf Tsegay who made headlines on September 17th by braking Kipyegon’s 5000m eorld record. Tigst Assefa, on the other hand stunned the world on September 24th by reducing Kipegon’s women’s marathon by two minutes and eleven seconds, setting a new record at 2:11:53.
