Letsile Tebogo and Sifan Hassan has been named as ‘Athlete of the Year’ for men and women respectively. Hassan and Tebogo both won gold and claimed multiple medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In 2024, the athlete delivered a remarkable performance on the global stage especially during the Paris Summer Olympics.

“At the end of what has been a stellar year for athletics, we are delighted to reveal our list of World Athletes of the Year – both in their respective disciplines and overall. I congratulate all our award winners, and all of the athletes nominated for these honours, and I thank them for inspiring us all with their performances this year.” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

At the Paris Olympics Letsile finished 6th in the 100 m final with a time of 9.86 seconds, and made history in the 200 m event where he truly shone, clinching the gold with a blazing 19.46 seconds, breaking an Asian record (AR) in the process. Additionally, he earned a silver in the 4 × 400 m relay, contributing to a team effort that crossed the line in 2:54.5, cementing his status as one of the sport’s elite performers. He claimed a first ever Olympic gold medal in any sport for Botswana. Dutch star athlete Hassan’s medal treble in Paris was capped by her winning the final athletics gold medal of the Games with her triumph in the marathon in an Olympic record of 2:22:55. That performance came just 37 hours after Hassan claimed bronze in the 10,000m, and six days after her first medal in the Paris – also bronze – in the 5000m.