Sydney McLaughlin and Athing Mu among nominees for WA’s Female Athlete of the Year

World Athletics has announced the 10 nominees for Female World Athlete of the Year 2021, and – no surprirse – it is stacked with runners. Tokyo double gold-medallist Sifan Hassan, 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon and triple-gold-medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah are there, as one would expect; so are 400m gold medallist and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin and 800m gold medallist Athing Mu, both of the U.S. 

The 10 nominees for Female World Athlete of the Year 2021 have been announced.

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— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 22, 2021

The nominees were selected by an international panel of athletics journalists and council representatives from World Athletics, and reflect not only the remarkable performances from track and field at the Olympic Games, but also one-day meets on the World Athletics circuit and other events around the world. 

Nominated runners

• Sifan Hassan – 5,000m and 10,000m gold, 1,500m bronze at Tokyo 2020
• Faith Kipyegon – 1,500m gold (and Olympic record) at Tokyo 2020
• Elaine Thompson-Herah – 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay gold at Tokyo 2020
• Sydney McLaughlin – 400m hurdles gold, 4x400m relay gold at Tokyo 2020
• Athing Mu – 800m gold at Tokyo 2020
• Jasmine Camacho-Quinn – 100m hurdles gold at Tokyo 2020
• Shaunae Miller-Uibo – 400m gold at Tokyo 2020

The following field atheltes are also nominated: Tokyo 2020 and Diamond League triple-jump gold medallist and world record-holder Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela), high jump Olympic and Diamond League gold medallist Mariya Laskitskene (ANA) and discus Olympic and Diamond League gold medallist Valerie Allman (USA).

A three-way vote will take place to determine the five finalists. The World Athletics Council will cast their votes while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted this week, and a ‘like’ on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.