Recently crowned world champions Noah Lyles and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are among the top international stars named as nominees for this year’s World Athletic Awards.
Like last year, there will be three separate awards for women and three for men, recognising the athletes of the year for track, field and out-of-stadium events. There will also be men’s and women’s awards for an overall World Athlete of the Year.
A panel of international experts has compiled a long list of nominees for each of the three main award categories. Voting will take place to determine the two finalists in each category.
The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and social media votes will each count for 25% of the result.
The 2025 World Athletics Awards also includes the Rising Star awards, Coaching Achievement Award, Woman of the Year, Photograph of the Year, Member Federation Award and President’s Award.
The nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved during another memorable year for the sport, which peaked with the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
Nominees for 2025 Women’s Track Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order):
Femke Bol, Netherlands
• World and Diamond League 400m hurdles champion
• Undefeated in the 400m hurdles, with the top three performances of the year
Beatrice Chebet, Kenya
• World 5000m and 10,000m champion
• World 5000m record
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, USA
• World 100m, 200m and 4x100m champion
• Undefeated in the 100m, with the top five performances of the year
Faith Kipyegon, Kenya
• World 1500m champion and 5000m silver
• World 1500m record
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, USA
• World 400m and 4x400m champion
• Undefeated in 400m and 400m hurdles, with second-fastest 400m of all time
Nominees for 2025 Men’s Track Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order):
Rai Benjamin, USA
• World 400m hurdles champion
• Two of the top three 400m hurdles performances of the year
Jimmy Gressier, France
• World 10,000m champion and 5000m bronze medallist
• Diamond League 3000m champion
Noah Lyles, USA
• World 200m and 4x100m champion and 100m bronze medallist
• Unbeaten in the 200m, including the Diamond League title
Cordell Tinch, USA
• World and Diamond League 110m hurdles champion
• Four of the top six performances of the year
Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Kenya
• World and Diamond League 800m champion
• Four of the top six performances of the year
The vote to determine the Track Athlete of the Year finalists is now open on World Athletics social media platforms – on Facebook, Instagram and X. It will close on 19 October.
The nominees for the Field Athlete of the Year awards will be announced on 20 October and the nominees for the Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year awards will be announced on 27 October.
The overall women’s and men’s World Athlete of the Year award winners will be selected from among the track, field and out of stadium category winners.
