McLeod nominated for IAAF’s World Athlete of the Year
KINGSTON, Jamaica — World Championships sprint hurdles gold medallist Omar McLeod was today named among the nominees for the IAAF’s World Athlete of the Year.
McLeod, who added the World Championships title to the Olympic and Indoor Championships he won last year, is among 10 men who were named by the IAAF.
Meanwhile, controversial world 100-metre champion Justin Gatlin was left off the list of nominees.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, was a surprise winner of the 100m in London in August as Jamaican great Usain Bolt bowed out of his top-class career with a disappointing bronze medal.
His omission is no surprise, though, as the IAAF changed its rules in 2015 to exclude from its list anyone who has ever been sanctioned for a serious doping offence.
That came after Germany’s Olympic discus champion Robert Harding asked for his own name to be removed from the list in protest at Gatlin’s inclusion in 2014.
The 2017 list is led by British 10,000m world champion Mo Farah and South Africa’s 400m star Wayde van Niekerk.
The women’s list includes comeback queen Sally Pearson of Australia, the 100m hurdles champion, and South Africa’s Caster Semenya, the winner of the 800m.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.The full list of nominees are: MenWomen
“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 Facebook and Twitter later this week; a ‘like’ or ‘favourite’ will count as one vote, an IAAF release said.
“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.
“Voting closes on 16 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, three men and three women finalists will be announced by the IAAF.”
Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT)
Pawel Fajdek (POL)
Mohamed Farah (GBR)
Sam Kendricks (USA)
Elijah Manangoi (KEN)
Luvo Manyonga RSA)
Omar McLeod (JAM)
Christian Taylor (USA)
Wayde van Niekerk (RSA)
Johannes Vetter (GER)
Almaz Ayana (ETH)
Maria Lasitskene (ANA)
Hellen Obiri (KEN)
Sally Pearson (AUS)
Sandra Perkovic (CRO)
Brittney Reese (USA)
Caster Semenya (RSA)
Ekaterini Stefanidi (GRE)
Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)
Anita Wlodarczyk (POL)
Additional reporting AFP
