KINGSTON, Jamaica – Coming off the heels of a historic World Championships, Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has been nominated for IAAF Female Athlete of the Year.
Fraser-Pryce, who scored her fourth 100m World Championships title at the recently concluded IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, was announced alongside Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech, Brigid Kosgei and Hellen Obiri; Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser; USA’s Dalilah Muhammad; Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson; The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan; Germany’s Malaika Mihambo; Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas and Mariya Lasitskene, for the coveted Female Athlete of the Year Award.
The 32-year-old won the 100m in a time of 10.71 seconds, the fastest time this year, and was also part of the Jamaican 4x100m women’s winning team at the Championships. In an Instagram post, Fraser-Pryce welcomed the nomination, saying “Representation matters….Grateful for all I have achieved this year and thrilled to be among a group of women to inspire others through our athletic performances. Thank you @iaaf_athletics for the nomination!”
Having won the title in 2013, she is only one of two Jamaican women to have ever won the award, with former Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey winning in 1990.
For the second year in a row, no Jamaican male athlete has been nominated for Male Athlete of the Year. Usain Bolt, who retired in 2017, was the last Jamaican to win the award in 2016. The fastest man alive has won the Male Athlete of the Year award a record number of six times.
The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF’s social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; a ‘like’ on Facebook and Instagram or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.
The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.
Voting for the Male World Athlete of the Year closes on 4 November. At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF.
The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the World Athletics Awards 2019.
