Monaco – With little more than a month to go until the 2014 World Athletics Gala, the IAAF has the pleasure in announcing the names of the three men and three women who are still in contention to become the 2014 World Athletes of the Year.

World Athlete of the Year finalists announced

The finalists were selected after a two-week-long poll of the world athletics family*.

The Council of the International Athletics Foundation will select the male and female winners, with the announcement taking place live on stage during the 2014 World Athletics Gala in Monaco on Friday 21 November 2014.

The finalists for the World Athlete of the Year Award are (in alphabetical order):

Men

Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT)
Dennis Kipruto Kimetto (KEN) World Record Berlin Marathon
Renaud Lavillenie (FRA)

Women

Valerie Adams (NZL)
Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)
Dafne Schippers (NED)

*World athletics family: IAAF & IAF Council members; IAAF national member federations; IAAF Committee & Commission members; IAAF meeting directors; IAAF athlete ambassadors; athletes’ representatives; top athletes; members of the international press; IAAF staff members and the IAAF’s official partners.