Noah Lyles and Ryan Crouser among 11 athletes nominated for Men's World Athlete of the Year 2023
Six-time World Championship gold medal sprinter Noah Lyles and two-time Olympic gold medal shot-putter Ryan Crouser are among the 11 athletes who have been nominated for Men's World Athlete of the Year 2023 Award.
An illustrious list of 11 athletes - including India's Neeraj Chopra, Mondo Duplantis, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Karsten Warholm - have been selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.
A three-way voting process - by the World Athletics Council, the World Athletics Family and fans - will help the athletes reach the final. Fans can vote online on the official social media platforms with a 'like' on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on X (formerly Twitter) counting as one vote.
The voting for the awards are open till 28 October 2023. Out of the 11 nominees, five athletes will make the cut, and the winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms on 11 December 2023.
The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
The nominations are the testimony to some excellent performances the athletes have achieved at the World Athletics Championships, one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other world events.
Nominees for Men's World Athlete of the Year 2023 Award
The following athletes have been nominated for the Men's World Athlete of the Year 2023 Award.
India's Neeraj Chopra (javelin; world champion, Asian Games champion).
USA's Ryan Crouser (shot put; world champion, world record holder).
Sweden's Mondo Duplantis (pole vault; world champion, Diamond League champion with world record).
Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali (3000m steeplechase; world champion, undefeated in six finals).
Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1500m/mile/5000m; world 5000m champion and 1500m silver medallist, European records for 1500m, mile and 3000m).
Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum (marathon; London and Chicago Marathon winner, Marathon world record breaker).
Canada's Pierce LePage (decathlon; world champion, world leader).
USA's Noah Lyles (100m/200m; world 100m and 200m champion, world leader and undefeated in six finals at 200m).
Spain's Alvaro Martin (race walk; world 20km and 35km race walk champion, world leader 20km race walk).
Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou (long jump; world champion, European Indoor champion).
Norway's Karsten Warholm (400m hurdles/400m; world 400m hurdles champion, European indoor 400m champion).
Noah Lyles suggests more award categories for athletes
Noah Lyles took to social media to suggest that the governing body could introduce more awards, rather than just the Athlete of the Year award. The American athlete opined that the time is ripe to have more awards to recognize and encourage more talent in athletics.
Lyles suggested that award categories like Performance of the Year and Athlete of the Year for disciplines like jumps, throws, distance, and sprints and an award for the most improved athlete could go a long way in creating a broader spectrum of recognition in the world of sports.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Noah Lyles said:
"I feel like there should be more awards given than just athlete of the year. What about: Performance of the year, Athlete of the year for jumps, throws, distance and sprints, most improved athlete."
Noah Lyles concluded his season by winning three gold medals, including the men's 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.