Comparing athletes between events always comes with some degree of subjectivity, and like many vote-based awards, the 2025 World Athletics Awards aren’t without their own controversy.
Yesterday, World Athletics narrowed down the two athletes under consideration for their athletes of the year awards in six categories (three male and three female), culling down from the original list of nominees posted in October.
The winner of each category will be named on November 30 in Monaco at the World Athletics Award Ceremony. The vote is made up of a combination of votes from:
- The World Athletics Council (50%)
- World Athletics Family Vote (25%)
- General Public Social Media Vote (25%)
Here’s a look at the finalists in each category and our pick for the winner of each.
Women’s Track Athlete of the Year
Femke Bol (NED)
Femke Bol successfully repeated as the 400-meter hurdles World Champion last month, running
51.54 seconds to edge out the American Jasmine Jones. She also won the Diamond League Final and went undefeated in the event in 2025.
The Dutch star has since announced that she’ll be switching to the 800-meter in 2026, and time will tell if she’ll contest the event again at the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone skipped the 400-meter hurdles this season to focus exclusively on the flat 400-meter. The decision paid off, setting a new American record at the world championships with an American record of 47.79 seconds. She also helped the American squad capture gold in the 4×400-meter relay.
Our Pick
Both athletes had excellent years, but our pick out for track athlete of the year would be McLaughlin-Levrone. Influencing our decision is that Bol has never beaten her in their three head-to-head match-ups in the long hurdles.
However, given the option, or overall pick for the award would be Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. It’s hard to call her omission anything other than a snub after she won triple gold at the World Championships in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4 x 100-meter relay and went undefeated in both the 100 and 200 all season except for a third-place finish in the 200 at Grand Slam Kingston.
Men’s Track Athlete of the Year
Noah Lyles (USA)
Noah Lyles defended his World Champion title in the 200-meter and picked up bronze in the 100-meter. He also added his sixth Diamond League Final title, winning the 200-meter title. It was his first Diamond League Final title since 2022.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi
The young Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi had another stellar season, becoming the man with the most lifetime sub-1:42-second runs in the history of the 800-meter, breaking the barrier in 2025 for the seventh time.
He took home victories in the 800-meter at the World Championships and Diamond League Final in 2025.
Our Pick
Wanyonyi’s season’s best of 1:41.44 was the tenth fastest time of all time in the 800-meter (his lifetime best is tied for the fourth). Lyles’ season best was the 15th fastest time on the all-time list, with his lifetime best being fourth all-time.
We’ll give a slight nod toward Wanyonyi for male track athlete of the year, although we can see how an argument could be made for both men.
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year
Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA)
Tara Davis-Woodhall won the Worth Championships with a jump of 7.13 meters and went undefeated all season. Along with posting the longest jumps in the world in 2025, she consistently performed her best in big moments, racking up several come-from-behind victories over the season at major competitions like the Eugene Diamond League Meeting.
Nicola Olyslagers
Nicola Olyslagers bested the world record holder, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, most of the season, including winning matchups at the Diamond League final and World Championships. Her new personal best of 2.04 meters set at the Diamond League Final in Zurich was the highest jump of the year.
Our Pick
Both women are arguably deserving of the award, but we’ll give a slight nod to Nicola Olyslagers for having to beat the current world record holder to secure her first World Championships title.
Men’s field athlete of the year
Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Mondo Duplantis broke his own world record in 2025. And then he broke it again. And then again. And then one more time at the World Championships because, well, why not?
Duplantis now holds the 14 highest jumps in history, with the next highest jump of 6.16m coming from former World Record holder Renaud Lavillenie in 2014.
Mattia Furlani (ITA)
It was only a matter of time before the young Italian became the World Champion in the long jump. Now we can officially give him the title after he won with a jump of 8.39 meters.
Also among his 2025 accomplishments are gold at the World Indoor Championships and finishing second at the European Indoor Championships.
Our Pick
Furlani had a great year, but there’s nobody on the planet as dominant in their event as Duplantis right now. Our pick has to be for Duplantis.
Women’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year
Peres Jepchirchir (KEN)
Peres Jepchirchir won the women’s marathon at the 2025 World Championships, running
2:24:43. The race was her only contested race of the year at a World Athletics event.
Maria Perez (ESP)
The race walk isn’t typically one of the most viewed events, but Maria Perez dominated the event to the point that she’s gained recognition even among many track fans outside of her event group. She took home gold at both the 20-kilometer and 35-kilometer race walk events at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Our Pick
Two is better than one. We give the nod for Women’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year to Perez for topping the World Championship results in two events.
Men’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year
Sabastian Sawe (KEN)
Sabastian Sawe won the marathon titles in London and Berlin this year. His best of 2:02:16 came at the Berlin Marathon, giving him almost a four-minute lead over second-place Akira Akasaki.
Alphonce Simbu (TAN)
Alphonce Simbu won the marathon at the World Championships this year with a time of 2:09:48. Earlier in the year, he finished second at the Boston Marathon and Meishan Renshou Half Marathons.
Our pick
Our pick for Men’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year is Simbu. Although Sawe had the fastest time of the year in the marathon, we’re giving Simbu the nod for winning the World Championships.