Tobi Amusan nominated for World Athlete of the Year award

Tobi Amusan has been nominated for the World Female Athlete of the Year award, and she is one of the top 10 candidates, according to World Athletics.

The 25-year-old is the first nominee from Nigeria for the prize. She is additionally the first Nigerian to take home a gold medal from the World Championships.

The nominees were chosen by an international panel of athletics experts, which included representatives from all six of World Athletics’ continental areas, according to a statement posted on the organization’s website on Wednesday.

The statement said, “This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2022 World Athletes of the Year ahead of the World Athletics Awards 2022.

“World Athletics is pleased to confirm a list of 10 nominees for Women’s World Athlete of the Year. These athletes were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

“It has been another memorable year for the sport and the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.”

Amusan and a Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, the current world 1500m champion and Diamond League 1500m champion, are the only Africans in the shortlist.

Amusan is the world 100m hurdles champion, Diamond League, Commonwealth and African 100m hurdles champion as well as world record holder in 100m hurdles at 12.12secs.

The body said fans can also vote online.

“The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube this week; a ‘like’ on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on Twitter will count as one vote.

“The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result,” the statement said.

Five finalists each for the male and female categories will be announced on October 31.

The statement added that winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms in early December.