An international jury has selected the six finalists, three men and three women, which will compete for the title of athlete of the year 2015.
This year the prize will be awarded during a private dinner limited to few participants after that Sebastian Coe, IAAF’s president, decided to cancel the Gran Gala in Monaco.
None of them needs introductions, so let’s look over again the best performances of the season.
Usain Bolt: even though many people gave up him for the world final against Justin Gatlin, in Beijing he confirmed he is still the king of the velocity. 9″79 on 100m and 19″55 on 200m for an another double which resulted in the best world performance of the year, on the longest track. He has already won the title of best athlete 5 times.
Christian Taylor: triple jump world champion with the second best result ever (18,21), he was the athlete who got closer to Jonathan Edwards than anyone else. He did himslef well with an excellent 8,18 in the long jump and with the victory of Diamond Race.
Ashton Eaton: he rewrote the hystory of multiple heats by signing the decathlon new World Record with 9045 points for his second World Title. Among the results which brought him to this award there is also the 400m WR in Decathlon with 45”00.
Dafne Schippers: she the new face of World velocity who this years started with the serious business, with an eye on next Olympic Games. After the national record on 100m (10”81) which yielded her the world silver, she signed the new European Record on 200m with 21”63 claiming the World title as well.
Genzebe Dibaba: two World Records for her this year. First, on 5000m indoor (14’18”86) and then on 1500m (3’50”07). She comes back from China with two medals, a gold on 1500m and a bronze on 5000m.
Anita Wlodarczyk: First woman to throw the hammer beyond 80 meters, she established the World Record with 81,08, undefeated for the whole season until the world title in Beijing.
Photo Frederic Nebinger/Getty Images Europe