India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra is among 11 athletes to be nominated for the World Athlete of the Year 2023 award. World Athletics officially announced the list of athletes in fray to win the prestigious award and Neeraj, after having a brilliant year, is one of them. He made history by becoming the first Indian to win the gold medal at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest.
He then finished second at the Diamond League 2023 and then defended his gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. The 25-year-old got a stiff fight from his compatriot Kishore Jena who was at the gold medal position at one stage only for Neeraj to surpass him with the season best throw.
Coming back to the list of nominees, Neeraj Chopra will be in competition with 10 other athletes for the award. Noah Lyles of the USA, Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis are some of those among others. The final five finalists will first be determined on November 13 or 14 via a three-way voting process.
The fans will be able to vote online via World Athletics social media platforms but the weightage for them is 25%. The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will be able to cast their votes via email with the former’s vote being counted for 50%. The weightage for the World Athletics Family’s voters is 25%. The winner of the World Athlete of the Year 2023 award will be announced on World Athletics’ social media platforms on December 11.
Men’s World Athlete of the Year nominations
Neeraj Chopra (IND)
- Javelin throw world champion
- Javelin throw Asian Games champion
Ryan Crouser (USA)
- Shot put world champion
- Shot put world record
Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
- Pole vault world champion
- Pole vault Diamond League champion
- Pole vault world record
Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR)
- 3000m steeplechase world champion
- Undefeated in six finals
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
- 5000m world champion
- 1500m world championships silver medallist
- European records for 1500m, mile and 3000m
Kelvin Kiptum (KEN)
- London Marathon and Chicago Marathon champion
- Marathon world record
Pierce LePage (CAN)
- Decathlon world champion
- Decathlon world leader
Noah Lyles (USA)
- 100m world champion
- 200m world champion
- 200m world leader
- Undefeated in six finals
Alvaro Martin (ESP)
- 20km race walk world champion
- 35km race walk world champion
- 20km race walk world leader
Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE)
- Long jump world champion
- Long jump European Indoor champion
Karsten Warholm (NOR)
- 400m hurdles world champion
- 400m European indoor champion