Kenyan marathon runner Sabastian Sawe is one of three finalists for the 2026 Men's World Athlete of the Year award. World Athletics announced the shortlist on Tuesday, The Eastleigh Voice reported. Sawe faces Sweden's pole vault star Mondo Duplantis and Brazil's 400m hurdles world record holder Alison dos Santos.
The nomination follows Sawe's win at the London Marathon on April 26 in 1:59:30. He became the first man to run a record-eligible marathon in under two hours. The 31-year-old cut 65 seconds off the previous record of 2:00:35, according to both outlets. The late Kelvin Kiptum set that mark in Chicago in 2023.
Sawe has won all four marathons he has run, The Eastleigh Voice reported. He won on his debut in Valencia in 2024, clocking 2:02:05. He then took London in April 2025 in 2:02:27 and Berlin that September in 2:02:16. This year he returned to London to defend his title. Citizen Digital reported that he won the Men's Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year award last year.
His rivals also had big seasons. Duplantis raised his own pole vault world record to 6.31m at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala, Citizen Digital reported. It was the 15th time he has improved the record. He also won the Ultimate Championship, world indoor and European titles. Dos Santos set a 400m hurdles world record of 45.80 at the Zurich Diamond League in August. He then won the Ultimate title in 45.98 and went unbeaten in 11 races, according to The Eastleigh Voice.
An international panel of athletics experts first chose 10 nominees, World Athletics said. Fans, athletes, media and the World Athletics Family then voted in a four-way poll, and the three finalists came out on top. Citizen Digital listed the nominees who missed out, including Josh Kerr, Ja'Kobe Tharp, Kenny Bednarek, Collen Busang Kebinatshipi and Kristjan Čeh.
Sawe is also up for the first-ever Moment of the Year award for his London run. He is up against Britain's Josh Kerr, who set a world mile record of 3:42.66 in London. The third finalist is Botswana's men's 4x400m relay team, which won gold at the World Athletics Relays.
World Athletics said the finalists will be invited to Monaco for the World Athletics Awards on November 29. The winner will be announced live on stage. The Rising Star, Coach of the Year and President's awards will also be handed out that night.