The World Athlete of the Year award is a prize that can be won by athletes participating in events within the sport of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

organised by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(formerly named IAAF), including

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

, and

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

. The first edition of awards in 1997, with winners Bulgaria's high jumper

Stefka Kostadinova Stefka Georgieva Kostadinova ( bg, Стефка Георгиева Костадинова; born March 25, 1965) is a Bulgarian retired athlete who competed in the high jump. Her world record of 2.09 metres has stood since 1987. She was the 1996 ...

and Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, had its results annulled. The athletes awarded in 1988 were Americans, namely sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner and

track and field athlete Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of ...

Carl Lewis. Jamaican sprinter

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

is the only athlete, male or female, to win the World Athlete of the Year Awards six times. Russian

pole vaulter Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the My ...

Yelena Isinbayeva and Morocco's middle-distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj have won the main award three times. American track and field athlete Marion Jones, sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross representing the USA, Carl Lewis and other American sprinter Michael Johnson, Ethiopia's

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

Kenenisa Bekele, Kenya's long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, and Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis have won the award twice each. The Rising Star of the Year award was inaugurated in 2005, when Great Britain's sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryeetey was awarded. The first woman to be voted was steeplechase specialist,

Ruth Bosibori Ruth Bosibori Nyangau (also written Ruth Bisibori; born 2 January 1988 in Bosiango) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Career In July 2007 she became the first All-Africa Games champion in the eve ...

of Kenya, in 2007. Belgian heptathlete

Nafissatou Thiam Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam (; born 19 August 1994) is a Belgian athlete specializing in multi-event competition. Thiam is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning the heptathlon event at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. She is the only Belgian ...

was the first to receive Rising Star award followed by Athlete of the Year trophy. The other athletes to achieve the feat were Venezuela's

triple jumper The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

Yulimar Rojas, Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, and Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm. In 2022, American sprinter Erriyon Knighton became the first athlete to be crowned Rising Star twice.

Winners

Rising Star winners

References

World Athletes of the Year

. Retrieved on 2021-01-01. {{Athletics awards Sport of athletics awards Awards established in 1988 Most valuable player awards