Surprise. The International Athletics Federation (World Athletics) unveiled the complete list of its annual trophies on Sunday, December 1st in Monaco. The two winners of the title of World Athlete of the Year are not the most anticipated. In the men's event, the favorite of the predictions, Mondo Duplantis, was beaten by Letsile Tebogo, the sprinter from Botswana, crowned Olympic champion in the 200m at the Paris 2024 Games. In the women's event, where the prize did not seem to escape the American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the jury and the public agreed to designate instead the Dutch Sifan Hassan, chosen for her historic triple in the French capital: gold medal in the marathon, bronze in the 5.000m and the 10.000m. For the rest, the list of winners is more conventional, with victories for Mondo Duplantis and the Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the field events category, for Letsile Tebogo and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the track races, and for the Ethiopian Tamirat Tola and Sifan Hassan in the off-stadium events. Ethiopian victory also in the category of rising star of the year, in the women's category, with the young Sembo Almayew, 5th in the Olympic final of the 3.000 m steeplechase. In the same category, the trophy went to the Italian long jumper Mattia Furlani in the men's side, silver medalist in the senior category at the European Championships in Rome, then bronze at the Paris 2024 Games. In Monaco, on Sunday December 1, World Athletics also awarded its President's Award to the American Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, " in recognition of his continued support for athletics and the development of the sport". The Coaching Achievement Award went to Great Britain's Trevor Painter, the Woman of the Year trophy went to Renée Washington, while Michael Steele received the award for best athletics photo. Finally, no surprise with the victory of USATF (USA Track & Field) in the national federation category.
