I am the best in the world - Cheptegei

Nov 07, 2019

He started off the year emerging as the first Ugandan senior to win the World Cross-country

Joshua Cheptegei just can't wait for the final vote for the IAAF Athlete of the Year Award.

Cheptegei who is the first Ugandan to be nominated for the prestigious award is confident that he is a favourite.

"If justice is done, I should be voted as the best," stated Cheptegei from his home town of Kapchorwa last week.

Cheptegei made the crème de la crème list after a record-breaking year where he became the first Ugandan to win three global titles.

He started off the year emerging as the first Ugandan senior to win the World Cross-country.

He then gave his country another first by winning the IAAF Golden League 5000m. Next was more gold in the 10000m at the Doha World Championships.

Cheptegei sees marathon sensation Eliud Kipchoge and US star sprinter Noah Lyles as his biggest challengers.

The list has a total of 11 nominees who include American Christian Coleman, whose 9.76 seconds, was the fastest 100m in 2019.

There is also Kenya's 1500m king Timothy Cheruiyot and Karsten Warholm who wound up the season with the second-fastest 400m hurdles time of 46.92.

This is world athletics body IAAF's biggest accolade. It is annually awarded in the city-state of Monaco.

The 32nd edition of the award will be held on November 24. A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.

The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family will cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via the IAAF's social media platforms.

The IAAF Council's vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, while the IAAF family's votes and the public votes will each count for 25 per cent of the final result.

At the conclusion of the voting process, five men and five women finalists will be announced by the IAAF.

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