Warholm over the moon
"I'm so happy for this," said Warholm. "First when I saw the time (in Tokyo), I was like, 'This must be a mistake!' Because I didn't see that one coming. And I didn't see the victory coming before crossing the finish line.
"It was a very intense race, I knew the American and the Brazilian and all the other guys were really chasing me. I always go out hard and I never know what is going on behind me. I was just fighting all the way to the finish line. When I realised 45.94 was the reality, I was thinking: 'This is not too bad. I'll take it!'"
Elaine's new target
"I just take it year by year," said Thompson-Herah. "I went very close to the world record so you know, anything is possible. No spikes hanging up any time soon!
"The World Championships in Oregon is most definitely my next big target," she added. "It is close to home, I hope friends and family can come out and watch. I hope I get some crowd as well. That couldn't happen in Tokyo but hopefully in Eugene I can get my friends and family to come and cheer me on."
Shared glory
The shared high jump victory between Qatar's Mutaz Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi became one of the biggest talking points of the Olympic Games - not only for everything it represented in their own individual careers, having both battled serious injuries since the last Games, but mainly for the act of respect and sportsmanship between two friends as the duo won the inspiration award.
"It is just crazy if I think about this story," said Tamberi. "Thank you very much for this trophy. "I now call Mutaz like five times a week because I need to speak with him. I feel that now we are not just friends, we are really like blood brothers."
Barshim added: "I hope to inspire more people to love our sport and maybe share a gold one day!"
Honours board
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe congratulated all the winners and finalists on their extraordinary achievements this year.
FULL LIST OF AWARDS:
Male Athlete of the Year: Karsten Warholm
Female Athlete of the Year: Elaine Thompson-Herah
Woman of the Year: Anju Bobby George
Inspiring Award: Mutaz Barshim/Gianmarco Tamberi
Male Rising Star: Erriyon Knighton
Female Rising Star: Athing Mu
Coaching Achievement Award: Bobby Kersee
Member Federations Award: Costa Rica
President's Award: Peter Diamond, Executive Vice President of NBC Olympic programming
World Athletics Photograph of the Year: Ryan Pierse's photograph of the women's high jump qualifying at the Tokyo Olympic Games.