Mutaz Essa Barshim
Gravity defying golden boy of Qatar Mutaz Essa Barshim has been nominated for the World Athlete of the Year by IAAF today.
Barshim, a world champion and Olympic medalist, is one of the 10 men nominated for the prestigious prize by the world body.
He is in a tremendous form winning many prestigious tournaments including the World Championship in London.
Last month, Barshim won the world title in London. In August 2016, he won the silver at the Rio Olympic Games. In 2014, Barshim grabbed the gold at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland.
This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2017 World Athletes of the Year ahead of the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017 in Monaco on Friday 24 November.
The list of 10 men and 10 women nominees were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF.
A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.
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 and Twitter later this week; a 'like' or 'favourite' 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 closes on 16 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, three men and three 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 IAAF Athletics Awards 2017.
The male nominees are Mutaz Essa Barshim, Pawel Fajdek, Mo Farah, Sam Kendricks, Elijah Manangoi, Luvo Manyonga, Omar McLeod, Christian Taylor, Wayde van Niekerk and Johannes Vetter.
The women's list includes Almaz Ayana, Anita Wlodarczyk, Maria Lasitskene, Hellen Obiri, Sally Pearson, Sandra Perkovic, Brittney Reese, Caster Semenya, Ekaterini Stefanidi and Nafissatou Thiam.
The IAAF said Monday the finalists will be determined by a "three-way voting process." Half of the votes will come from the IAAF council, 25 percent from the IAAF member federations and committee members, and the remaining 25 percent from a public vote on social media.
The awards will be announced on November 24.
