A closer look at the 2016 World Athlete of the Year Women’s Finalists

With just 16 days to go until the IAAF Athletics Awards 2016 which will reveal the name of the 2016 Women’s World Athlete of the Year, we once again revisit the achievements of the three women’s finalists.

Almaz Ayana – Ethiopia 

Picking up brilliantly where she left off in 2015 as the world 5000m champion, 24-year-old Almaz Ayana ventured into territory few would have considered a possibility this year. 

Opening her season with an 8:23.11 victory over 3000m at the IAAF Diamond League series opener in Doha, Ayana proceeded to rewrite the all-time lists in the 5000m. After a 14:16.31 performance in Rabat, she threatened the world record with a 14:12.59 run in Rome, the second-fastest performance of all time.

That momentum continued in late June at the Ethiopian Olympic trials for 10,000m where Ayana triumphed in 30:07.00, the fastest ever debut over the distance. In Rio she went faster still, opening the Oympic athletics programme with a stunning 10,000m world record of 29:17.45 that knocked more than 14 seconds from a record set 23 years earlier.

At 5000m, Ayana took Olympic bronze and won the Diamond Race.

Read more at: IAAF.org