The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Monday released a list of 20 athletes nominated for the 2017 World Athlete of the Year awards.
“The IAAF is pleased to confirm a list of 10 men and 10 women nominees who were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF.
“This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2017 World Athletes of the Year, ahead of the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017, scheduled for Monaco on Nov. 24,’’ the world athletics ruling body said in a statement.
It listed the male nominees to include Mutaz Barshim of Qatar, Elijah Manangoi of Kenya, Pawel Fajdek of Poland, Mohamed Farah of Great Britain and Sam Kendricks of the U.S.
The rest are Luvo Manyonga of South Africa, Omar McLeod of Jamaica, Christian Taylor of the U.S., Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa and Johannes Vetter of Germany.
The female nominees include Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, Maria Lasitskene who is an Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA), Hellen Obiri of Kenya, Sally Pearson of Australia and Sandra Perkovic of Croatia.
Others are Brittney Reese of the U.S., Caster Semenya of South Africa, Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece, Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium and Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF’s social media platforms.
Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on social media platforms facebook and twitter later this week, with a “like’’ or “favourite’’ counting as one vote.
The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 per cent of the final result.
NAN reports that voting will close on Oct. 16, with three men and three women finalists to be announced by the IAAF at the conclusion of the voting process
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017.
