Josh Kerr nominated for World Athlete of the Year award

Josh Kerr’s outstanding season on the track has seen him nominated for the World Athlete of the Year award.

The Edinburgh runner is the only Briton among 20 nominees announced by the sport’s governing body.

Kerr, 28, broke the long-standing world mile record in London in July and then two weeks later won gold for Scotland over the same distance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Gold medallist Josh Kerr celebrates after winning the men's mile final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at Scotstoun Stadium on August 1, 2026. | Getty Images

He finished first in the 1500 metres at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest last month, taking home the $150,000 prize pot, and also triumphed in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland in March.

The nominees were selected by an international panel of athletics experts and include 10 for Women’s World Athlete of the Year and 10 for the men’s award.

Kerr’s rivals include marathon man Sabastian Sawe

Kerr’s rivals for the prize include Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis who improved his world pole vault record to 6.31 metres, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos who set a world 400m hurdles record of 45.80sec and Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe who won the London Marathon in a world record of 1hr 59:30sec, becoming the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon.

A four-way vote, which closes on October 17, will determine the final ranking, from first to 10th. The four voting groups which will each contribute 25 per cent of the final vote, are: World Athletics fans, voting by survey; athletes who have competed at World Athletics Series events during 2026; members of the media and World Athletics ‘family’ from across the sport.

The list will be whittled down to three men and three women and the winners will be announced in Monaco on November 29.