Africa is well represented in the race for athletics’ highest individual honours. According to the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), four of its athletes are among the 20 nominees for World Athlete of the Year 2026.
Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe arrives with the most spectacular achievement of the season. Winner of the London Marathon in 1:59:30, he became the first man to break the legendary two-hour barrier in a record-eligible race.
On the women’s side, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa earned her nomination with an outstanding year over the marathon, highlighted by wins in Berlin and London. In the British capital, she set a women-only world record of 2:15:41. Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich also had a standout season. A distance specialist, she won the world half marathon title with a women-only world record of 1:05:15, before going on to claim the world cross-country crown.
Sprinting has its representative too. Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi, a 400m specialist, won the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in 43.39 seconds and triumphed in the Diamond League. According to the CAA, he also improved the championship record three times.
The 20 nominees, ten women and ten men, were chosen by an international panel of athletics experts. The three finalists in each category will be announced on 10 and 11 November, ahead of the World Athletics Awards ceremony in Monaco on 29 November.
With a historic marathon mark and two women’s road world records, African athletics heads into these awards in a position of strength.