Holland’s Sifan Hassan and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo made history as they were crowned the 2024 World Athletics Athletes of the Year.
This is the first time an athlete from both countries has clinched the historic award, and it captures the magnitude of the achievements of Hassan and Tebogo in 2024.
Hassan excelled at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as she won marathon gold and bronze medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m.
She etched her name in history and became the first athlete in 40 years to compete in all three events, which is the longest distances on the Olympic program and only the second to medal in all three at a single Olympics.
Hassan also took home the 2024 Women’s Out of Stadium Award, edging Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, who set the women’s marathon world record in Chicago in October this year.
Other notable names in the women’s category included American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who competes in track and won the Female Track Athlete of the Year as well as Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh.
Tebogo’s win is no surprise to many as he made history as the first athlete from Botswana to win Olympic gold in any sport.
The men’s sprinter of the year claimed the 200m title in Paris last summer and anchored Botswana to victory in the men’s 4x400m relay, narrowly beating America’s Rai Benjamin in a thrilling finish.
Tebogo’s record-breaking performances have gone on to inspire a new generation of athletes back home in Botswana and he will still be aiming for more as he has close to a decade of top-level action to show forth in his career.
Letsile Tebogo was also named the World Athletics Men’s Track Athlete of the Year in addition to his Athlete of the Year prize.
In October, Tebogo was announced the Male Athlete of the Year at the ANOC Awards alongside St Lucia’s history maker Julien Alfred.
Both winners emerged from a rigorous selection process which involved three voting groups in the World Athletics Council (50%), the World Athletics family (25%), and fans voting on social media platforms (25%).
A final round of fan voting determined the overall Male and Female World Athletes of the Year, with Hassan and Tebogo standing tall among all others as Black athletes continue to dominate track and field events.
