Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela have been named the male and female World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2020.
Mondo edged Ugandan long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei, American Shot Putter Ryan Crouser, German Javelin thrower Johannes Vetter and Norwegian sprinter Karsten Warholm who had made the men’s final five ahead of the event.
Duplantis smashed the world record in the pole vault twice, topping 6.17m and 6.18m on back-to-back weekends in February just a few weeks before the global coronavirus pandemic.
He returned after resumption of sport to produce the highest outdoor vault of all time (6.15m), finishing the year undefeated in 16 competitions.
“It was a really strange season, for me and everybody, but I was able to put it together and get some pretty good results,” Duplantis told World Athletics.
“I just wanted to go out there and show the world what I was capable of and put my name out there with some big performances. I was able to do that and had some good heights, especially during the indoor season.
“When everything got shut down and things were pushed back to the end of the season, I was able to find some good form there as well which, for me, was more impressive than my indoor season because I’d had two months off.
“I think it’s cool when people describe me as the face of the sport, but it’s not something that I need to be or that I must have,” he added. “I just try to go out there, I try to jump high, I try to break world records, I try to just keep improving.”
Rojas upstaged Ethiopian long distance runner Letesenbet Gidey, Dutch long distance runner Sifan Hassan, Kenyan Half Marathon star Peres Jepchirchir and Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah.
Rojas broke the South American indoor triple jump record in her first competition of the year, reaching 15.03m in Metz, France. At the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Madrid, she leaped 15.43m in the final round of the competition to break the world indoor record by seven centimetres.
She also competed just twice outdoors, claiming the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco and again in Castellon, Spain, where she sailed 14.71m, the farthest leap in the world outdoors this year.
“I honestly didn’t expect this, I really cannot believe it,” Rojas told World Athletics. “It is such a joy and I’m filled with happiness. Just being one of the finalists felt like winning to me; being nominated among other exceptional athletes was already a wonderful achievement.
“This victory means a lot to me and to all of those who work with me every day, everyone who gives me strength and motivation every day.
“And now, being the best athlete of the year is an additional inspiration for me for 2021. It is going to be a great year and I have a lot of ambition. This gives me a lot of strength to keep on track with my career.”
Cheptegei who broke world records at 5000m (12:35.36), 10,000m (26:11.00), 5km on the roads (12:51) and finished fourth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships on his debut over the distance – will have to mount an extra-ordinary challenge next year to stand a chance of contending for this title again.
