After dominant displays throughout their 2025 campaigns, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Sebastian Sawe and Edmund Serem crowned their seasons with global recognition at the World Athletics Awards on Sunday evening in Monaco.
World 800m champion Wanyonyi secured the Male Track Athlete of the Year, Berlin Marathon champion Sebastian Sawe scooped the Male Out of Stadium Award. At the same time, Serem was awarded the Male Rising Star Award.
Wanyonyi edged out American sprint ace Noah Lyles, the 200m world champion, to lift the Male Track Athlete of the Year crown, a perfect reward for his commanding 2025 campaign.
At the Tokyo World Championships, the 20-year-old sensation stormed to his maiden global title in 1:41.86, cementing his place as the world’s premier two-lap specialist.
He was equally ruthless on the Diamond League circuit, claiming victories in Oslo (1:42.78), Stockholm (1:41.95), Monaco (1:41.44) and London (1:42.00) before sealing the season-ending trophy in Zurich with 1:42.37. His Monaco-winning time (1:41.44) also stands firm as the world-leading time in 2025.
Meanwhile, marathon powerhouse Sawe was crowned Male Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year, beating Tanzania’s world marathon champion Alphonce Simbu.Sawe has been in imperious form all year, maintaining a perfect record across the two marathons he contested.
He made a strong debut at the London Marathon on April 27, clocking 2:02:27 to dispatch Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo (2:03:37) and Kenya’s Alexander Munyao (2:04:20).
In September, he delivered another masterclass at the Berlin Marathon, storming to victory in 2:02:16, well clear of Japan’s Akira Akasaki (2:06:15) and Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele (2:06:57).
In the Rising Star Award, steeplechase prodigy Edmund Serem outshone compatriot Phanuel Koech, the world U-20 1,500m record holder and Ethiopia's Biniam Mehary, the U-20 3000m short-track record holder.
Serem has swiftly emerged as one of Kenya's most exciting talents in the water-and-barrier discipline. The 2025 season marked his maiden campaign on the Diamond League stage, opening in Xiamen with 8:08.50 for fourth place.
He followed it up with appearances in Shanghai (second place - 8:08.68), Rabat (third place - 8:07.47) and Monaco (third place - 8:04.00).
At the Zurich Diamond League Final, he clocked 8:09.96 to settle for second place before capping his breakthrough year in Tokyo, where he clinched his first senior global medal, bronze in 8:34.56.
