Kenyan athletics fans have reason to celebrate as Beatrice Chebet, Faith Kipyegon, and Emmanuel Wanyonyi are among the nominees for the 2025 World Athletics Track Athlete of the Year award.
The trio’s nominations reflect their stellar performances this season in distance and middle-distance running, further solidifying Kenya’s reputation on the global stage.
Beatrice Chebet continues to surge. At 25, she has already claimed a double Olympic gold in the 5,000 m and 10,000 m at Paris 2024, becoming just the third woman in history to win both events at a single Olympics.
In 2025, Chebet wrote her name in the record books by smashing the women’s 5,000 m world record at the Prefontaine Classic, clocking 13:58.06, the first time a woman has run under 14 minutes in that event.
She also holds the world record in the 10,000 m (28:54.14) set in May 2024 at Eugene. Her dominance spans cross country and road races as well, she has multiple World Cross Country Championships and road 5k records to her name.
Faith Kipyegon remains a force in middle-distance running. She is a multi-Olympic and world champion over 1,500 m, and in 2025 she broke her own 1,500 m world record, running 3:48.68 at the Prefontaine Classic. Earlier, she had improved the record to 3:49.11 and 3:49.04 in preceding years.
At the 2025 World Championships, Kipyegon claimed gold in the 1,500 m and added a silver in the 5,000 m. Her ability to maintain top speed in the final laps remains one of her hallmarks.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Wanyonyi is making waves in the 800 m. Born on August 1, 2004, Wanyonyi is already ranked among the top 800 m athletes globally.
He holds a personal best of 1:41.11 (recorded August 2024) in the 800 m. In 2025, he has produced some of the fastest times in the discipline and delivered standout performances in world meets and Diamond League events.
At the 2025 World Championships, Wanyonyi won the 800 m title with a championship record time of 1:41.84 in a thrilling finish, a head-to-head battle where multiple competitors dipped under 1:43. That result underscores how serious a contender he is in global middle-distance running.
These nominations come as no surprise. Kenya’s track legacy has long been built on distance prowess, and Chebet, Kipyegon, and Wanyonyi push that tradition forward with record-breaking strides and championship performances.
Their diverse distances from 1,500m to 10,000m and 800m show the depth of Kenyan talent across track events.
Voting for the Track Athlete of the Year finalists is now open on World Athletics’ social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and X and will close on October 19, 2025. The Field Athlete of the Year nominees are set to be announced on October 20, 2025, followed by the Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year nominees on October 27, 2025.