World Athletics Awards 2019

Welcome back to the Creative Awards London blog where we bring you our latest bespoke awards and trophies. In today’s blog we cover the biggest event within the athletic world’s calendar: The World Athletics Athlete of the Year Award 2019.

Formerly known as the IAAF Athlete of the Year Awards, the ceremony began in 1988 where the inaugural awards were won by Americans Carl Lewis and Florence Griffith-Joyner. Since their inception over three decades ago the awards have come to epitomise the towering spirit of the human race, constantly striving to push the limits of performance and carry our athletic achievements forward. Indeed, a cursory glance at the list of winners showcases not just athletic achievements but names that have become part of pop culture, sporting lore and the popular vernacular. Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt, Michael Johnson and, more recently, Eliud Kipchoge have all reached a level of sporting fame that their feats and names will forever go into the annals of history. 

Taking place in Monaco on the 23rd of November, this year’s ceremony continues the tradition of celebrating the outstanding successes of elite athletes from across the world and across disciplines. A three-way voting process determined the finalists where the World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via social media platforms. The Council’s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result.

The finalists of the men’s category (and their achievements) are:

Joshua Cheptegei (UGA)

  • won world cross-country title in Aarhus
  • won world 10,000m title in a world-leading 26:48.36
  • won Diamond League 5000m title

Sam Kendricks (USA)

  • won world pole vault title
  • cleared a world-leading 6.06m to win the US title
  • won 12 of his 17 outdoor competitions, including the Diamond League final

Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)

  • won London Marathon in a course record of 2:02:37
  • ran 1:59:40.2 for 42.195km in Vienna

Noah Lyles (USA)

  • won world 200m and 4x100m titles
  • ran a world-leading 19.50 in Lausanne to move to fourth on the world all-time list
  • won Diamond League titles at 100m and 200m

Karsten Warholm (NOR)

  • won the world 400m hurdles title
  • undefeated indoors and outdoors at all distances, including at the Diamond League final and the European Indoor Championships
  • clocked world-leading 46.92, the second-fastest time in history

The nominees of the women’s category (and their achievements)  are as follows:

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM)

  • - won world 100m and 4x100m titles in world-leading times of 10.71 and 41.44
  • - won Pan-American 200m title
  • - won seven of her 10 races at 100m

Sifan Hassan (NED)

  • won world 1500m and 10,000m titles in world-leading times of 3:51.95 and 30:17.62
  • won Diamond League 1500m and 5000m titles
  • broke world mile record with 4:12.33 in Monaco

Brigid Kosgei (KEN)

  • set a world record of 2:14:04 to win the Chicago Marathon
  • won the London Marathon
  • ran a world-leading 1:05:28 for the half marathon and 1:04:28 on a downhill course

Dalilah Muhammad (USA)

  • broke world record with 52.20 at the US Championships
  • improved her own world record to win the world 400m hurdles title in 52.16
  • won world 4x400m title

Yulimar Rojas (VEN)

  • won world triple jump title with 15.37m
  • jumped world-leading 15.41m to move to second on the world all-time list
  • won nine of her 12 competitions, including the Pan-American Games

WinnerCreative Awards London worked with the team at World Athletics to design the custom made awards for the event. Hand-blown, abstract glass awards finished with silver were created for the Male and Female Athlete of the Year awards whilst bespoke plaques were specially created for individual athletes who had broken World Records over the course of the last year. 

Creative Awards London would like to thank all of the teams at World Athletics and the individual winners. For more information on the association and the awards, visit https://www.worldathletics.org/awards