Dos Santos, Duplantis and Sawe: World Athlete of the Year finalists

Alison dos Santos, Mondo Duplantis and Sabastian Sawe are the three finalists for the men’s World Athlete of the Year 2026 award, with the winner to be announced on Sunday 29 November in Monaco. All three reach the final vote after breaking world records in their respective disciplines.

World Athletics confirmed the shortlist on 10 November, following a vote among fans, athletes, members of the media and the World Athletics Family, and lists the finalists in alphabetical order. They topped an initial list of ten nominees, selected by an international panel of athletics experts.

The finalists’ records and titles

Brazil’s Alison dos Santos set the 400m hurdles world record at 45.80 seconds. He also won the Ultimate title with 45.98, the third-fastest time in history.

His hurdles season included eleven unbeaten races, among them the Diamond League final. Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, meanwhile, raised his pole vault world record to 6.31 metres.

Duplantis also added the Ultimate, World Indoor and European titles. He has already won the Athlete of the Year award in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025; in 2023 he shared it with Noah Lyles and Kelvin Kiptum. Usain Bolt has received it six times.

Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon in a world record of 1:59:30. He was the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon and beat the previous best of 2:00:35, set by Kiptum in 2023. In 2025, Sawe won the men’s Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year award.

A vote among ten nominees

Behind the three finalists, Josh Kerr placed fourth, followed by Ja’Kobe Tharp, Kenneth Bednarek and Collen Kebinatshipi.

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage was eighth, Andy Díaz Hernández ninth and Kristjan Čeh tenth.

The awards ceremony in Monaco

The three finalists will be invited to the World Athletics Awards, where the winner will be revealed live on stage. The ceremony will also include the women’s World Athlete of the Year award.

The same gala will present the men’s and women’s Rising Star awards, the Coach of the Year and the President’s Award. The Moment of the Year will be awarded at the ceremony for the first time.