Berlin - Jamaican super-sprinter Usain Bolt leads the list of six finalists announced Wednesday for the 2016 World Athlete of the Year award by the ruling athletics body IAAF.
Bolt won a third straight Olympic 100, 200 and 4x100-metre treble at the Rio de Janeiro Games in August and now has the chance to win the annual IAAF award a record sixth time.
The other two men are Briton Mo Farah who got back-to-back 5 000/10 000m doubles in Rio; and South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk who bettered Michael Johnson's 400m world record for the gold.
The three women on the final list also bagged Olympic gold in Brazil: Ethiopian Alamz Ayana and Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk with world record performances in the 10 000m and hammer throw; while Jamaica's Elaine Thompson got a 100m and 200m sprint double.
Winners will be announced at an IAAF gala on December 2.
The finalists were determined from longlists in a three-way voting process involving the IAAF council, the IAAF family (meet directors, athletes and their representatives, media, IAAF staff members and sponsors) and the public via social media.
DPA