2010 World Athletics Gala Logo (© IAAF.org)
Monte CarloFor the past four years the number one 100m sprinter of the season has gone on to become the World Athlete of the Year: Asafa Powell in 2006; Tyson Gay in 2007 and Usain Bolt the last two editions…before then middle distance runners Hicham El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele took centre stage of the World Athletics Gala, the Moroccan winning three-in-a-row from 2001 and Bekele grabbing the honours in 2004 and 2005.
Will a sprinter be crowned again this year? Or will a middle distance runner take back the trophy? Will a distance runner finally succeed Haile Gebrselassie, the last long distance runner to win Athlete of the Year back in 1998? Is it time for another thrower to become the Athlete of the Year – only two throwers were ever crowned; Steve Backley and Jan Zelezny respectively 20 and 10 years ago.
One has to go back even further in history to find a sprint hurdler on top of the World, only Colin Jackson the year of his World record and Roger Kingdom before then were presented with the ultimate trophy.
All of the above disciplines are once again contesting for World Athlete of the Year in the guise of Tyson Gay (sprint) David Oliver (hurdles), David Rudisha (middle distance), Zersenay Tadese (long distance) and Andreas Thorkildsen (throws).
As the 2010 World Athletics Gala approaches, let’s take a closer look at the five male athletes who have been shortlisted for the 2010 Athlete of the Year Award:
What they achieved in 2010…
Tyson Gay USA
100/200 and 4x100m
>Won seven out of eight sprint finals
>Defeated Usain Bolt at 100m in Stockholm
>Ran the fastest 100m time of the year at 9.78
>Helped the Americas’ 4x100m team win the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
David Oliver USA
110m Hurdles
>Unbeaten in 15 finals at 110m Hurdles
>Won the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
>Won the Samsung Diamond Race
>Set the fourth and joint fifth fastest times ever, 12.89 & 12.90
David Rudisha KEN
800m
>Set two World records at 800m (1:41.09 & 1:41.01)
>Won the African Championships
>Won the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
>Unbeaten sequence of 11 finals and four preliminaries
Zersenay Tadese ERI
20km & Half Marathon
>World record breaker at Half Marathon and 20km with marks of 58:23 & 55:21
>Individual and team silvers at the IAAF/SINOPEC World Half Marathon Championships
Andreas Thorkildsen NOR
Javelin Throw
>Won the European Championships
>Won the Samsung Diamond Race
>Won the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup
>Set a World leading mark of 90.37m
The winners of the 2010 World Athlete of the Year Awards will be announced, on stage, during the 2010 World Athletics Gala, which will take place in Monaco, on 21 November 2010. They will be presented their trophies by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF & IAAF President Lamine Diack.
