NAIROBI, November 13 – Geoffrey Kamworor and Agnes Tirop have been voted as the winners of the multi-terrain category, the last of the nine categories, in the first round of voting for the 2015 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award.
The Kenyan pair both were convincing winners at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships Guiyang 2015 on 28 March.
Kamworor won the senior men’s 12km race by eight seconds, crossing the line in the Chinese city in 34:52, while Tirop won the senior women’s gold medal, covering the 8km course in 26:01 and winning by five seconds.
The duo join marathoner Eliud Kipchoge and World champion javelin star Julius Yego who also topped their respective category to join the long list for the world athlete of the year.
Last month the IAAF Family was asked to select nine men and nine women from each of the following categories: sprints, hurdles, middle and long distance, road running, race walking, jumps, throws, combined events and multi-terrain.
The long list will comprise the top-voted athletes in each category.
An international panel of 10 experts will then select the finalists – three men and three women – the names of whom will be announced on 17 and 18 November.
From those finalists, the Council of the International Athletics Foundation (IAF) will select the male and female World Athletes of the Year.
