Norwegian 400m hurdler Karsten Warholm and Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah have been named World Athletics’ World Athletes of the Year.
Warholm, 25, won his award for beating the 29-year-old world record and taking Olympic gold in a stellar 2021,
His Tokyo time of 45.94 seconds is widely considered one of the greatest Olympic track performances of all time.
Thompson-Herah, 29, took the women’s award for achieving the sprint double at a second consecutive Olympics.
She beat compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to the 100m gold in Tokyo and held off Namibian teenager Christine Mboma to retain her 200m title, repeating the Olympic double she won at Rio 2016. Thompson-Herah also clocked 10.54sec over 100m and 21.53sec over 200m to move second in the world all-time rankings behind the late Florence Griffith Joyner. Athing Mu, the 19-year-old American who won the women’s 800m Olympic title, was named the female rising star.
Compatriot Erriyon Knighton, who at just 17 finished fourth in the men’s 200m final in Tokyo, won the equivalent men’s award. BBC
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