Sifan Hassan, Letsile Tebogo crowned World Athletes of the Year
The Dutch Olympic record-holder in the women's marathon took top honours, alongside the men's Olympic 200m champion
Photo by:
Kevin Morris
Dutch running superstar Sifan Hassan, known for her success across a wide range of distance events, was named the Female World Athlete of the Year on Sunday in Monaco, while Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo, received the award for Male World Athlete of the Year.
Hassan demonstrated her dominance at the Paris Olympic Games, where she completed a distance running triple. becoming the first woman to win medals in three events at a single Olympics. She claimed two Olympic bronze medals on the track (5,000m/10,000m) and capped off her historic run with a gold medal in the women’s marathon, setting a new Olympic record.
Many fans felt Hassan was snubbed by World Athletics in 2023, when she was not nominated for the award despite a groundbreaking season that included victories at two major marathons (London and Chicago) in her first two attempts at the distance.
At just 21, Tebogo took top honours in the men’s category after a spectacular 2024 season. Tebogo’s crowning moment came at the Paris Olympics when he stunned fans by charging to victory in the 200m final. Running in memory of his mother, who passed away on May 21, Tebogo clocked an African record and personal best of 19.46 seconds, denying Noah Lyles the sprint double he was chasing.
Tebogo, whose Olympic victory secured the first medal for Botswana in any event, ran under the 20-second mark nine times in 2024. He also also anchored Botswana’s men’s 4x400m relay team to an Olympic silver medal, and finished sixth in the men’s 100m Olympic final.
2024 World Athletes of the Year
Women’s World Athlete of the Year: Sifan Hassan (NED)
Men’s World Athlete of the Year: Letsile Tebogo (BOT)
Women’s track: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Women’s field: Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR)
Women’s out of stadium: Sifan Hassan (NED)
Men’s track: Letsile Tebogo (BOT)
Men’s field: Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
Men’s out of stadium: Tamirat Tola (ETH)
Women’s Rising Star: Sembo Almayew (ETH)
Men’s Rising Star: Mattia Furlani (ITA)
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