Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Masai Russell and Audrey Werro have been confirmed as the three finalists for the 2026 Women’s World Athlete of the Year honour ahead of the World Athletics Awards taking place in Monaco.

Following a four-way vote by fans, athletes, members of the media and the World Athletics Family, the three finalists topped the list of 10 nominees that had been selected by an international panel of athletics experts.

The finalists will now be invited to Monaco for the World Athletics Awards on 29 November, when the winner will be announced live on stage.

Finalists (in alphabetical order):

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, USA
• Won a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship
• Set world leads of 10.62 in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m, the latter putting her third on the world all-time list

Masai Russell, USA
• Set a world 100m hurdles record of 12.09 and achieved nine of the 10 fastest times of the season
• Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles as part of an unbeaten season in the 100m hurdles

Audrey Werro, Switzerland
• Won Ultimate, Diamond League and European 800m titles
• Broke the Diamond League record three times, improving to a world lead of 1:53.70 – putting her third on the world all-time list

The remaining nominees finished in the following order:

4 Tigst Assefa, Ethiopia
5 Marileidy Paulino, Dominican Republic
6 Agnes Ngetich, Kenya
7 Chase Jackson, USA
8 Yan Ziyi, China
9 María Pérez, Spain
10 Camryn Rogers, Canada

As well as the awarding of the women’s and men’s World Athlete of the Year honours, other awards to be presented on stage in Monaco include the women’s and men’s Rising Star honours, Coach of the Year, the President’s Award and, for the first time, the Moment of the Year award.

The finalists for Men’s World Athlete of the Year were announced on Tuesday (10).

World Athletics