•The 19th edition of the annual awards will be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre following two stops in Mombasa, one in Naivasha and another in Kakamega.
•Kipyegon won the world 1,500m title and the Diamond League trophy after another outstanding season which saw her narrowly miss the world record.
Image: FILE
The Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) gala returns to Nairobi on January 20, 2023 after four years on the road.
The 19th edition of the annual awards will be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre following two stops in Mombasa, one in Naivasha and another in Kakamega.
This time around, the awards will feature 11 categories including a return of the schools' category, which was been shelved for the last two years due to Covid-19.
The awards are sponsored by Communications Authority, NSSF, Safaricom, Lotto Foundation and Kenya Pipeline.
Tennis sensation Angela Okutoyi is among the nominees for the sportswoman.
Okutoyi will battle it out with world and Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon, world 800m bronze medallist Mary Moraa and Commonwealth 5,000m champion Beatrice Chebet.
Others are Sharon Chepchumba, Naomi Wafula, Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir and Lioness women's rugby player Janet Okello.
Okutoyi had an outstanding season in 2022 but she still has a battle on her hands if the performance of the rest of the nominees is anything to go by.
She made history by becoming the first-ever Kenyan to win a Grand Slam following her girls’ doubles victory at Wimbledon Open. She also won the doubles in the J1 Repentigny competition in Canada.
Okutoyi also reached the second round in the US Open singles.
Kipyegon won the world 1,500m title and the Diamond League trophy after another outstanding season which saw her narrowly miss the world record.
Moraa crowned a wonderful 2022 season by winning the 800m title at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham as well as the 800m Diamond League trophy in Zurich.
Chebet struck gold at the Commonwealth Games in addition to the Diamond League trophy over the 5,000m distance.
Volleyballer Chepchumba will, however, be hoping to break the dominance of track stars.
Chepchumba led her club, KCB, to the Africa Club Championships title in Tunisia.
Chumba, as she is popularly known, was also outstanding for the national team, Malkia Strikers as they won their first match at the World Championships.
Golfer Wafula is also in the mix. The 24-year-old won five key events over the past year — Kenya Ladies Golf Union (KLGU) Open Meeting, Karen Ladies Open, Limuru Ladies Open, Eldoret Ladies Open and Vipingo Ladies Open.
She also managed a second-place finish at the Kenya Ladies Open Amateur, Stroke play Championship, Kitale Ladies Open, Nyeri Ladies Open, Leisure Ladies Open, Nyali Ladies Open and Thika Ladies Open.
Wafula also represented Kenya at 2022 All Africa Challenge Trophy where she steered the national team to a fourth-place finish.
Rugby player Okello was the top scorer at the 2022 Sevens Challenge Series.