CAPE TOWN - World and Commonwealth Games champion Luvo Manyonga could crown another magical year in the long jump pit by being recognised by the IAAF.
Manyonga was nominated on Tuesday for the IAAF Male World Athlete of the Year, which comes a day after compatriot Caster Semenya was included in the list for the Female Athlete of the Year.
The 27-year-old Manyonga has had another stellar year, having won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in the Gold Coast, Australia in April with a meeting record of 8.41 metres.
Manyonga, who hails from Mbekweni near Paarl, also claimed the Diamond League title.
His only significant defeat came at the African Championships, where he was edged out by countryman Ruswahl Samaai into second place.
But the South African star will face serious competition for the IAAF award among the other nine athletes.
Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya sat a brand new marathon world record of 2:01.39 at the Berlin Marathon, which was the biggest improvement on a men’s marathon world record since 1967.
He also won the London Marathon in an unforgettable year.
American sprinter Noah Lyles has also set the 200m scene alight in 2018, running four times under 19.70 in a single season - something only Usain Bolt has done previously.
Lyles set a best time of 19.67 in Monaco, and clocked 19.67 in winning the Diamond League final in Zurich. He is no slouch in the 100m either, with a personal best of 9.88.
Other nominees include middle-distance runner Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, US sprinter Christian Coleman, Swedish pole-vaulter Armand Duplantis, Emmanuel Korir (Kenya) in the 800m, French heptathlon athlete Kevin Mayer, 400m hurdler Abderrahman Samba of Qatar and shot put star Tomas Walsh of New Zealand.
The winner will be announced at the IAAF Athletics Awards ceremony on December 4 in Monaco.
This week marks the opening of the voting process for the 2018 World Athletes of the Year ahead of the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018 in Monaco🎉
Here is the list of 10 nominees for Male World Athlete of the Year🤩
Read: https://t.co/hFKv6Er20V pic.twitter.com/1ejVCrPQPx
— IAAF (@iaaforg) October 23, 2018
@ashfakmohamed