South Africa’s superstar Wayde van Niekerk is in contention for the IAAF 2017 World Athlete of the Year award. – By Lwando Njamelo

Newly married Wayde van Niekerk is in the running for top honours at the 2017 IAAF World Athletes of the Year Awards. The list of 10 men and 10 women nominees were narrowed down to just three per category, SA’s Caster Semenya was excluded from the final list of women.

Van Niekerk faces tough competition, and is going head-to-head with Great Britains’s Mo Farah and Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim for the top accolade.

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In the women’s category, Ethiopia’s 10,000-metre runner Almaz Ayana is going up against pole vaulter Ekaterini Stefanidi (Greece) and the heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium).

Thank you @iaaforg– such an honour to be recognized as a finalist again. Just to be mentioned alongside such amazing athletes is special! pic.twitter.com/wmppt1cnxq

— Wayde van Niekerk (@WaydeDreamer) November 6, 2017

VOTING:

A three-way voting process determined the finalists.

The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via the IAAF’s social media platforms. The IAAF Council’s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result. Voting closed on 16 October.

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The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017 in Monaco on Friday 24 November.

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