Sawe and Ngetich are Kenya's two nominees for World Athlete of the Year 2026
Kenya has one man and one woman among the 20 nominees. Public voting closes on 17 October.
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In short: Sabastian Sawe and Agnes Ngetich are Kenya's nominees for the 2026 World Athlete of the Year awards. Voting closes on 17 October 2026 and the winners are announced on 29 November in Monaco.
World Athletics has named 10 men and 10 women as nominees for its 2026 World Athlete of the Year awards. Two are Kenyan: marathon runner Sabastian Sawe and distance runner Agnes Ngetich.
Sawe's season was built on one race. At the London Marathon on 26 April he ran 1:59:30, the first sub-two-hour marathon on a record-eligible course. Pimeys labels the time a reported world record until ratification is confirmed.
Ngetich won both the World Cross Country and World Half Marathon titles this year, and ran 28:58 for 10 km.
How the vote works
Public voting runs until midnight CEST on 17 October. Three finalists per category are announced on 10 and 11 November, and the winners at the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on 29 November.