After a set of stellar seasons on the track, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Masai Russell and Audrey Werro stood ahead of the pack as they were named female athlete of the year finalists by World Athletics on Wednesday.
The three emerged from a loaded shortlist of ten finalists who also overachieved this year, but only the trio will compete for the top honor on November 29 in Monaco when the award will be presented.
Jefferson-Wooden had a year that picked up from her stunning flawless 2025 campaign, as she won the sprint double at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September and set world leads of 10.62 in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m.
Meanwhile, Russell soared to a world record in the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.09 in Zurich in August as part of a season-long progression, clocked nine of the 10 fastest times of the year and won the Ultimate Championship and Diamond League titles in an unbeaten campaign in the event.
Werro won the Ultimate Championship, Diamond League and European women’s 800m titles, broke the Diamond League record three times on the circuit and improved to a world-leading of 1:53.70 – putting her third on the all-time list.
The other athletes who were nominated and made the shortlist also had strong seasons, with Tigst Assefa dominating at the London Marathon in April for a 2:15:40 women-only world record and later pulling off a gripping performance at the Berlin Marathon where she closed out the late stages of the race with an Achilles injury.
Marileidy Paulino, Agnes Ngetich, Chase Jackson, Yan Ziyi, María Pérez and Camryn Rogers also received votes to round out the rest of the group as fans, athletes, members of the media and the World Athletics Family contributed to the initial voting process.
Wednesday’s announcement came just a day after Alison dos Santos, Mondo Duplantis and Sabastian Sawe were revealed as the men’s athlete of the year finalists, with all three selected from a loaded men’s group that also included Josh Kerr, Ja’Kobe Tharp, Kenny Bednarek, Collen Kebinatshipi, Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, Andy Díaz Hernández and Kristjan Ceh.
At the ceremony in Monaco, several other awards will be presented in addition to the men’s and women’s honors, with the top coach prize, rising star, President’s Award all set to be named along with the moment of the year, which will be the debut of the category.
