NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 19 – World 3,000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech has been named in the final shortlist of five for the 2018 IAAF World Female Athlete of the Year Awards.
The Commonwealth Games silver medalist had been named in an initial list of 10 with votes from fans across IAAF Social media platforms seeing her squeeze into the top five in line for the top award when the ceremony is conducted in Monaco next month.
A three-way voting process determined the finalists.
The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via the IAAF’s social media platforms.
The IAAF Council’s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result. Voting closed on 12 November.
Chepkoech ran a brilliant race to shave eight seconds off the steeplechase World Record at the Monaco leg of the IAAF Diamond League, running eight minutes, 44.32 seconds to cap off her wonderful season.
She had earlier on bagged silver at the Commonweal Games in Gold Coast Australia, running in the 1500m. She also had a super season at the Diamond League, winning seven of the eight races in the circuit.
Chepkoech also won the African title at the Senior Athletics Championship in Asaba, Nigeria, before heading to the Continental Cup in Ostrava where she also picked the crown.
She will vie for the ultimate crown alongside Belgian heptahltete Naffi Thiam who also won the crown last year, British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, Colombian triple jumper Catherine Ibarguen and Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
Final Shortlist
Dina Asher-Smith (GBR)
– European champion and world leader at 100m, 200m and 4x100m
– Second over 100m in the IAAF Diamond League final and IAAF Continental Cup
– Commonwealth Games 4x100m gold and 200m bronze
Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN)
– World steeplechase record by eight seconds, backed up by the third-quickest mark of all time
– Winner of seven out of eight steeplechase finals including the IAAF Continental Cup, African Championships and IAAF Diamond League final
– Commonwealth Games silver at 1500m
Caterine Ibarguen (COL)
– IAAF Continental Cup winner, IAAF Diamond League champion and Central American and?Caribbean champion at both long jump and triple jump
– World lead and unbeaten in eight finals at triple jump
Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH)
– Unbeaten across five events in 15 races (13 finals and 2 preliminaries), including a 200m/4x100m double at the IAAF Continental Cup
– World lead and three wins at 400m with the world’s fastest time since 2006
– Commonwealth Games and IAAF Diamond League champion at 200m
– World bests at indoor 300m and 150m straight
Nafissatou Thiam (BEL)
– European champion, world lead and unbeaten at heptathlon
– World number three at high jump
The post Chepkoech in final Athlete of the Year list appeared first on Capital Sports.