Gidey, Hassan among the nominees for world female athlete of the year



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On Tuesday, World Athletics announced the nominees for World Female Athlete of the Year, and nine of the 10 women listed are runners. All of these women have had incredible seasons in 2020, and even with the months out of competition, each managed to register many surprising accomplishments in the few opportunities they had to compete. With so many accomplishments across the board, any of these women could win Athlete of the Year honors. Here are the nine runners with a shot at that title, plus the reasons each of them deserves to win the Women’s World Athlete of the Year.

Elaine Thompson-Herah

Country: Jamaica

Specialty: 100m / 200m

Why you deserve to win: After winning gold in the 100 and 200 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Thompson-Herah hasn’t had the best of years, losing the podium at the world championships in both 2017 and 2019. You could hardly say she’s had a poor performance, but his expectations had to have been high after the double Olympic gold. He turned that around in 2020, winning Diamond League races in Rome and Doha and closing his season with a perfect record in the 100 meters and just one loss in the 200 meters. She also ran the world leading 100-meter time of 10.85 seconds, and is one of only four women to run under-11 in 2020.

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Femke Bol

Country: Netherlands

Specialty: 400 m hurdles

Why you deserve to win: At just 20 years old, Bol dominated the 400mH circuit this year. With her world leading time of 53.79 seconds, she was the only woman to break 54 seconds at the event in 2020, and it was a Dutch record by almost a full second. In addition to his national 400mH record, Bol also ran up to the best Dutch 300mH mark of 38.55 in a match in the Czech Republic. Ultimately, she was undefeated in all six of her 400mH races in 2020, two of which were on the Diamond League stage.

Faith kipyegon

Country: Kenya

Specialty: 1,500m

Why you deserve to win: Kipyegon is an Olympic and world champion in the 1,500m, but in 2020 she focused on shorter events. Of his five races this year, three were over 1,000m and the other two were over 800m and 1,500m. She was undefeated in all five races and achieved world-leading results in the 800m and 1,000m, with times of 1: 57.68 and 2: 29.15. He came very close to beating the 24-year-old 1,000 meter world record of 2: 28.98, but ultimately came up short. Her immersion in the 800m races was also a surprise, as it was her first time participating in the event since 2015, but she looked like a seasoned veteran of the two-lap race.

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Laura muir

Country: Britain

Specialty: 1,500m

Why you deserve to win: Muir had a tremendous season, breaking the British record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2: 30.82 and running the world leading 1,500-meter time of 3: 57.40. She was on the podium in all 11 races she participated in this season and was undefeated in the 1,500m. Muir finished fifth in the 1,500m at the 2019 world championships, and with her impressive season this year, she has proven to be one of the best middle distance runners in the world right now, less than a year from the Olympics. from Tokyo. .

Shiny obiri

Country: Kenya

Specialty: 5,000 m

Why you deserve to win: Obiri only raced four times in 2020 and scored three wins. His only loss was not a pleasant one, and he raced up to 11th in the 1,500m in the Stockholm Diamond League, but his other races in the 3,000 and 5,000m were stellar. He ran the world leading time in the 3,000m with a demonstration of 8: 22.54 in Doha, and was also the world leader in the 5,000m until Letesenbet Gidey posted a world record at the October event.

RELATED: Letesenbet Gidey Breaks 15K World Record

Letesenbet Gidey

Country: Ethiopia

Specialty: 5,000 m

Why you deserve to win: As mentioned above, Gidey broke the 5,000m world record earlier this year. Racing in the NN Valencia World Record Day event, a race created specifically to break world records, Gidey posted an incredible 14: 06.62, breaking the 12-year mark of 14: 11.15. He also took a large chunk of his own PB from a distance, cutting his previous best time by more than 16 seconds. In addition to his historic run in Valencia, Gidey ran to second place in the 5,000 meters in the Monaco Diamond League event, which was his only other race of the year.

Sifan Hassan |

Country: Netherlands

Specialty: 1,500m / 10,000m

Why you deserve to win: In 2019, Hassan won gold in the 1,500m and 10,000m at the world championships, proving that she is one of the most versatile athletes competing right now. This year, he continued to show his range, winning 5,000m, 10,000m and hour races. Hassan set two great records in 2020, starting with the one-hour world record in Brussels. After battling the marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei For most of the race, Hassan walked away to win with a total distance of 18,930m. A month later, he ran to a European record 10,000m in the Netherlands, where he ran 29: 36.67 to crush Paula radcliffeMark from 30 to 18 years: 01.09.

RELATED: Hassan falls hard, still finishes second in the Valencia Half Marathon

Peres Jepchirchir

Country: Kenya

Specialty: Half marathon

Why you deserve to win: Jepchirchir only ran three times in 2020, but on two of those occasions, she set the world record for the women-only half marathon. He first set the record at the Prague Half Marathon in early September, where he posted a time of 1:05:34, beating the runner-up by more than a minute and a half. Just over a month later, he was on the starting line of another half marathon, this time at the Polish world championships. This race was much closer and the first three places were only separated by three seconds. In the end, Jepchirchir won again, running 1:05:16 and winning his second world title.

Ababel Yeshaneh

Country: Ethiopia

Specialty: Half marathon

Why you deserve to win: Yeshaneh finished fifth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, with an impressive time of 1:05:41, but his biggest result of 2020 (and only one other race of the year) came in February at the Ras Al Half Marathon. Khaimah. in the United Arab Emirates. There, he ran a world record time of 1:04:31, beating pre-race favorite Kosgei by 18 seconds to claim victory.



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