Noah Lyles forgotten, Armand Duplantis nominated in his category

Surprise ? American Noah Lyles, Olympic 100m champion, is not among the two finalists for the title of male athlete of the year in the “track” category, World Athletics, the international athletics federation, revealed on Monday.

The two finalists are the Botswanan Letsile Tebogo, Olympic champion in the 200m and the gold medalist in the 5000m, the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Lyles won one of the closest Olympic finals in history when he won gold in Paris in August by five thousandths of a second over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. The American was aiming for an Olympic double in the sprint but Lyles had to settle for the bronze medal in the 200m, behind Tebogo and his compatriot Kenny Bednarek. Lyles later revealed that he had run the 200m despite testing positive for Covid-19.

Among the women, the two finalists in the track category are Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who broke her own world record to win the Olympic title in the 400m hurdles for the second consecutive time.

Duplantis/Tetoglou duel in competition

In the competition category, Mondo Duplantis, Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder, will be the big favorite to win the men’s prize. The Swede will face Greek Miltiadis Tetoglou, who won gold in the long jump in Paris.

Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who broke the 37-year-old women’s world record by clearing 2.10m four weeks before winning Olympic gold, will face three-time Olympic heptathlon champion, Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam.

For women, the “non-stadium” prize will pit Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, marathon world record holder, against Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, who won the Olympic marathon in Paris. Among the men, the Ecuadorian Brian Pintado, gold medalist in Paris in the 20 km walk, will face the Ethiopian Tamirat Tola, Olympic marathon champion.

The winners will be revealed during a ceremony planned in Monaco on December 1st.