• Chepkoech, the reigning World record holder in 3,000m steeplechase capped a spectacular performance during the recently concluded championships in Doha, clocking a record of 8:57.8
• World 5,000m champion Hellen Obiri made the cut following her rich harvest in the season
Image: COURTESY
The Kenyan trio of Beatrice Chepkoech, Hellen Obiri and Brigid Kosgei will battle it out with other eight nominees for the 2019 Female World Athlete of the Year.
The three were shortlisted for the category courtesy of their exemplary performances put in across this year at the World Athletics Championships, Diamond League and on the marathon circuit among others. The awards will be held in Monaco on November 23.
Chepkoech, the reigning world 3000m steeplechase record holder capped a spectacular performance during the recently concluded championships in Doha, clocking 8:57.84.
She won her the maiden title in the biannual event after bitter memories of the 2017 edition, where she missed a water jump and had to backtrack and clear it.
Prior to the global competition, Chepkoech had won seven out of eight Diamond League events in her speciality.
Olympics 5000m silver medallist Hellen Obiri made the cut following her rich harvest this season. The Laikipia Airbase-based athlete fired from all cylinders in the season where she won the World Cross Country held in Aarhus, Denmark in March clocking 36:14 on her debut.
She extended the form in Doha and successfully defended her title in a championship record of 14:26.72 having faltered in her attempt to win the 10,000m race. Obiri had also recorded 14:20.36, the world-leading performance in 5000m during the London Diamond League in London.
Koesgei, on the other hand, was nominated after breaking the 16-year old women's marathon record during the Chicago Marathon held last Sunday. The 25-year-old athlete sliced Paula Radcliffe's record of 2:15:25 by a minute and 26 seconds. Early this year, Kosgei won the London Marathon where she timed 2:18:20. She ran a world lead in half marathon both in Bahrain (1:05:28) and Great North Run (1:04:28) respectively.
World 10,000 and 1,500m champion Sifan Hassan, Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica who won has won seven of her ten 100m races and Great Britain's Katarina Thompson are among the opponents the three Kenyans will face.
Others are —Mariya Lasitskene of Russia, Germany's Malaika Mihambo, Dalilah Muhammad of USA, Said Eid Naser of Bahrain and Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela.
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, Twitter and Instagram this week; a 'like' on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the Female World Athlete of the Year closes on November 5. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the World Athletics Awards.