The track and field season has come to a close, but the excitement is far from over. World Athletics has started preparing for the World Athletics Awards 2023, where they will hand out the iconic 2023 World Athletes of the Year ahead. This has given us a chance to look back in wonder at the remarkable performances this season. Let’s take a better look at each of the nominees for this prestigious award.

Meet the 2023 World Athletes of the Year nominees

According to World Athletics, 11 world-class athletic wonders have been nominated for the prestigious title of World Athlete of the Year. They are as follows:

Neeraj Chopra

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India’s Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is the first candidate for the honor. He began this season with a bang at the Asian Games and then proceeded to win the Diamond Leagues in Doha and Lausanne. Finally, he earned the subcontinent’s first gold medalist at the World Athletics Championships.

Ryan Crouser

Joining Noah Lyles on this list is America’s shot put star Ryan Crouser. He experienced a slight setback at the start of the indoor season but managed to pull it back at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix, where he made the global record. That winning streak continued to the World Athletics Championships, where he defied painful blood clots in his legs to win the gold. He had 11 of the 12 best throws this season.

Mondo Duplantis

This Swedish powerhouse pole vaulter earned the Men’s World Athlete of the Year award last year and is poised to make away with it yet again. He has improved his own record for the seventh time this season with a jaw-dropping 6.23-meter jump at the Diamond League finals. As the pole vaulting world champion, he is a strong contender for the trophy.

Soufiane El Bakkali

Soufiane El Bakkali from Morocco is the world’s most dominant steeplechase runner. He went undefeated all season and also improved his personal best to 7:56.68. He enjoyed the glory of winning the Diamond League in Doha before a home crowd and drew sustenance from the support. This proved instrumental in keeping his morale high when Ethiopian rival Lamecha Girma shattered his world record with a time of 7:52.11. He faced Girma at the World Championship and gave him a just reply.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen

This 23-year-old Norwegian is the country’s best hope for the 1500m/mile/5000m track and field races. For the second year in a row, this remarkable athlete has won the world title in the 5000-meter. He also won a silver in the 1500-meter at the World Championships. However, his greatest triumphs came at the Diamond League meets, during which he won the Oslo, Lausanne, and Silesia meetings. At the Diamond League finals in Eugene, he ran the mile with a 3:43.73 and the 3000-meter with a 7:23.63. Both these timings were European records and put him in the third rank on the all-time leaderboard.

Kelvin Kiptum

Kenyan marathon racer Kevin Kiptum began his track and field career last year and is already eligible for this accolade. For those who doubt his place on this list of seasoned athletes, they must check out his amazing performance at the TCS London Marathon. In April, he came very close to making the new world record with a run of 2:01:25. He finally made history in October when he competed at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. He ran the course in 2:00:35, which was 34 seconds faster than the previous world record set by Eliud Kipchoge. With just ten months of running in his portfolio, he holds three of the fastest times in history.

Pierce LePage

Canadian decathlon legend rose to the occasion when it mattered the most. He won the world title in Budapest by scoring 8909 points. This score put him in sixth position on the all-time leaderboard. He also made the second-highest mark at the World Championships after Ashton Eaton did so in 2015.

Noah Lyles

Noah Lyles is up for the 2023 World Athletes of the Year, which would cap his remarkable journey this season. The newly crowned double champion helped turn the table for the country at the World Athletics Championships. He walked out of Budapest with three gold medals and a personal best of 9.83. His dominance brought him one step closer to his ultimate goal of becoming the new face of track and field.

Álvaro Martín

Álvaro Martín helped the World Athletics Championships start on a positive note. He was the first gold medalist in Budapest that he won for the 20km race walk. Thereafter, he also won the gold in the 35km event and became the first Spanish athlete to boast of the iconic “double-double”.

Miltiádis Tentóglou

The Olympic gold medalist long jumper had a successful campaign at the World Championships. This track and field legend from Greece had no shortage of style as he secured the gold with an 8.52-meter jump. This was the third-highest jump of his career and has set him up in hope.

Karsten Warholm

This remarkable hurdler has had an incredulous season in 2023 that saw a 400-meter world title-winning feat and the creation of a world record. The Norwegian had a tremendous setback last year in the form of a hamstring tear and bounced back harder this season. By the end of the season, the 27-year-old had rewritten multiple records in his personal best capacity.

Who will win?

It is a great time to be a track and field fan in the United States. For the first time in a decade, America has stolen the limelight from Jamaica, and the credit goes to Noah Lyles. Now, he has the chance of attaining it and supplanting Usain Bolt, but the decision is not in his hands.

Furious Noah Lyles Takes a Dig at World Athletics After They Announce Single Award for 2023

The decision lies in the hands of the World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family. They will cast their votes by email, while the fans can also vote online on the World Athletics social media platform. This time, Noah Lyles will have to trounce ten other superstars of track and field, which includes fellow American athlete Ryan Crouser, who has delivered incredible performances in 2023. We will have to wait till December 11 to know the final results.

Watch this story: Noah Lyles Eyeing on Shattering Another Record of Usain Bolt After Breaking the Sprinting Legend’s Record in Seven Years