MONACO – Caribbean superstars Julien Alfred and Marileidy Paulino are among six nominees vying for the prestigious 2024 World Athletics Women’s Track Athlete of the Year award.
St Lucia’s Alfred and the Dominican Republic’s Paulino, will go up against Kenya’s duo of Beatrice Chebet, the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion and Faith Kipyegon who won Olympic gold in the 1500m; and the USA pair of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who copped Olympic gold in the 400m hurdles and Gabby Thomas, the 200m Olympic champion.
Alfred, the 23-year-old St Lucian, had a remarkable year in which she won gold in the women’s 100m and silver in the 200m at the Paris Olympics, while also winning the World Indoor 60m title.
She then capped off the year by being crowned the 100m champion at the Wanda Diamond League.
Paulino, 27, was unbeaten in 2024 in the women’s 400 metres, where she won gold at the Paris Olympics and the Wanda Diamond League.
Meanwhile, Americans Rai Benjamin, Grant Holloway and Noah Lyles, along with Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway have been nominated for the Men’s Track Athlete of the Year.
The finalists for the Track Athlete of the Year will be determined through public voting on World Athletics’ social media platforms, with voting set to close on October 27.