IAAF shortlists five for Male Athlete of the Year award

The awards will be presented at the IAAF Athletics Gala 2018 to be held on December 4 in Monaco. Images: IAAF Media

Monaco, November 20: The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has short-listed the names of the five finalists for the 2018 Male Athlete of the Year award.

The list includes America's Christian Coleman, Sweden's Armand Duplantis, Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, France's Kevin Mayer and Qatar's Abderrahman Samba.

The IAAF had already announced the five finalists for the 2018 Female Athlete of the Year.

The five athletes, who represent five countries from four Area associations, have illustrated excellence across nearly all athletics disciplines in 2018. A three-way voting process determined the finalists.

A three-way voting process determined the finalists. The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family cast their votes by e-mail, while fans voted online via the IAAF's social media platforms.

The IAAF Council's vote counted for 50 per cent of the result, while the IAAF Family's votes and the public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result. Voting closed on November 12.

Here is a look at the five finalists in alphabetical order.

Christian Coleman (USA)

The American holds world indoor record and is the reigning world indoor champion at 60M.

He also holds the world lead and is the IAAF Diamond League champion at 100m.

Armand Duplantis (SWE)

The current European champion in pole vault with a world-leading height, Duplantis is also the world Under-20 champion.

The 19-year-old is the holder of eight world Under-20 records or bests, -- both indoors and outdoors.

Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)

The reigning London Marathon champion, Kipchoge is a class ct.

The Kenyan is also the Berlin Marathon champion with the biggest improvement on a men's marathon world record since 1967.

Kevin Mayer (FRA)

The Frenchman is the world indoor champion at heptathlon.

He also holds the world record at decathlon. He showed his had shown glimpses of his potential last year in the London World Championships itself.

Abderrahman Samba (QAT)

With world leads and remaining unbeaten in nine finals at 400m hurdles, setting the world's quickest time since 1992, Samba is a champion in the making.

The Qatari, who trains under legendary Talal Mansour, he is the Asian Games champion at 400m hurdles and 4x400m as well as the IAAF Continental Cup winner.

The 23-year-old is also the Asian indoor 4x400m champion.

The awards will be presented at the IAAF Athletics Gala 2018 to be held on December 4 in Monaco.