MONACO: Mo Farah, Wayde van Niekerk and Mutaz Essa Barshim have been nominated for the IAAF world athlete of the year award.
Farah won the 10,000-meter title and a silver medal in the 5,000 at the world championships in London, while Van Niekerk defended his 400 title and finished second in the 200. Barshim won the world high jump title, clearing 2.35 meters without a miss.
The women's nominees were Ethiopian distance runner Almaz Ayana, Greek pole vaulter Ekaterini Stefanidi and heptathlon world champion Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium.
The IAAF says the finalists were determined by a "three-way voting process." Half of the votes came from the IAAF Council, 25 percent from the IAAF member federations and committee members, and the remaining portion from a public vote conducted by social media.