Rudisha and Chemos lead in race for IAAF top awards
By Mutwiri Mutuota
Being the last week for public voting for the prestigious IAAF World Athletics Gala, Kenyan nominees, David Rudisha and Milcah Chemos are confident of making the final three shortlisted candidates for the male and female Athlete of the Year award.
The pair that has illuminated their disciplines this season feature strongly in an online poll open to the public at the www.iaaf.org website with voting set to close tomorrow.
Rudisha, who broke then set the world 800m record in addition to winning his
David Rudisha when he set the world record in Rieti. |
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In an electrifying season for the 22-year-old that ended without defeat, Rudisha first obliterated Kenyan-born Dane, Wilson Kipketer’s long standing 1:41.11 world record that was two-days shy of its 14th year with victory at the Berlin ISTAF meet where he clocked 1:41.09.
Uncharted waters
A week later in the fast course of Rieti where he lowered the African record last year, Rudisha stopped the clock at 1:41.01 to push the frontiers of 800m running to uncharted waters.
Tadese on the other hand dealt Samuel Wanjiru’s previous 58:33 world record over half marathon a mortal blow in Lisbon when he cut the tape in 58:23. He was on course for an unprecedented fifth successive World Half title before Wilson Kiprop sliced him with the finish in sight.
In the women’s poll results, Chemos, who continued her emergence in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase where she bagged the IAAF Diamond League title, African crown and most recently her country’s first female Commonwealth water and barriers race title, is also proving a firm favourite.
Only Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar, the former world 5,000m champion comes second to her, sometimes also bypassing the Mount Elgon born ace who sparkled in her second season in the discipline.
Milka Chemos, the 3,000m steeplechase specialist. [PHOTOS: FILE/ REUTERS, STANDARD] |
Online polls will be tallied together with those from IAAF Family voters that include affiliate federation officials and selected journalists to determine the final shortlist of three male and female athletes apiece that will be subjected to another round of voting to determine the athletes of the year recipients who will be disclosed on November 22 .
Other nominees include Tyson Gay (USA/100m/200m), Stephen Hooker (Aus/Pole vault), Christian Cantwell (USA/Shot put), Bernard Lagat (USA/3,000m/5,000m), Christophe Lemaitre (Fra/100m), Teddy Tamgho (Fra/Long jump), David Oliver (Fra/110m Hurdles) and Adreas Thorkildsen (Fin/Javelin) Veronica Campbell Brown (Jam/100m/200m), Jessica Ennis (GB/Combined events), Fabiana Murer (Bra/Pole vault), Nadzeya Ostapchuk (Bel/Shot put), Blanka Vlasic (Cro/Long jump), Olga Rypakova (Rus/Triple jump) and Amita Wlodarczyk (Poland/Hammer).