Get Set Go!: Winners of Multiple Athlete of the Year Awards

“Mentally tough athletes know how to stay focused and deal with adversity.”

– Gary Mack, Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence

Athletes are stars. With their myriad laurels and world records, it may seem that they have all the world at their fingertips. Though that may be true, athletes have to sacrifice a lot to reach their pinnacles. Even then, they have a ton of responsibilities. They have to stay focused and fit as well as turn their heads away from a lot of luxuries that we normal people take for granted. Moreover, athletic life is filled with sky-highs and crushing lows. To be successful in athletics, one has to be made of steel, both physically and mentally. 

We have rooted for various athletes at one point or another in our lives. If not, we at least know the names of the stars in the field of athletics. However, you would be surprised to know that many of us do not even know what athletics actually encompasses. Athletics is a field of sports that includes running, walking, jumping, and throwing. Athletics is also known as track and field.

Athletics is one of the oldest sports in the world. The ancient Greeks had various athletics events during the Olympics. The Egyptian Civilization and many ancient civilizations in Asia also hosted athletics competitions. In the modern day, England pioneered the rise of athletics during the 19^th century. With time, the sport spread to the rest of the world. Today, many renowned international competitions are held worldwide where our stalwart athletes can prove their mettle.

Since 1988, the World Athletics, formerly known as the IAAF, has been awarding the World Athlete of the Year prize to the male and female athlete who shows the most promise in the competitions held that year.

Very few people have won the prestigious award more than once. In fact, in nearly two and a half decades, only ten sports stars have been graced with the prize multiple times.

Let us take a moment and remember these amazing athletes.

Usain Bolt

Country: Jamaica

Number of Wins: 6

Usain St.Leo Bolt is one of the greatest athletes in the world. The Jamaican sprinter is the holder of a number of world records. He won the World Championship a whopping eleven times and the Olympics gold medal an astounding eight times. Fondly named Lightning Bolt, he is the only athlete to win the World Athlete of the Year Award six times in the years 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. He is indeed an icon. I am sure even those who have little interest in sports have heard his name. 

Yelena Isinbayeva

Country: Russia

Number of Wins: 3

Yelena Isinbayeva is unquestionably one of the greatest female pole vaulters of all time. The Russian is a two-time Olympic gold medal winner and a three-time World Champion. She is also the world record holder in pole vaulting. Isinbayeva is the first woman to clear the five-meter barrier. She snared the Athlete of the Year Award in 2004, 2005, and 200. Also, she became the World Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus in 2007 and 2009. Isinbayeva is one of only ten athletes who won the World Championships in the youth, junior, and senior categories.

Hicham El Guerrouj

Country: Morocco

Number of Wins:  3

Hicham El Guerrouj is perhaps the greatest middle-distance runner in history. The Moroccan is the world record holder of the mile, 2000 meters, and 1500 meters races. He is only the second person who won a gold medal in both the 1500-meter and 5000-meter races at the same Olympic Games. He alone holds seven of the ten fastest run times in the 1500 meters and mile category. He won the gold medal in the 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003 World Athletics Championships. El Guerrouj was honored with the World Athlete of the Year consecutively three times in 2001, 2002, and 2003. In 2014, he made a place in the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame. Though retired now, he was once undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in the field of middle-distance running.

Marion James

Country: United States of America

Number of Wins: 2

Though a renowned athlete of her time, Marion James has a checkered history tarnished with the use of steroids. Despite winning five medals in the 2000 Olympic Games, she was stripped of all of them when she finally admitted to her drug use years later. As an athlete and a basketball player, Jones showed great promise before she disappointed many with her illicit activities. Despite everything, we cannot take away the fact that she was an outstanding athlete at least at the start of her career. She was honored with the World Athlete of the Year Award in 1997 and 1998.

Sanya Richards-Ross

Country: United States of America

Number of Wins:  2

Jamaican-American Sanya Richards-Ross represented the United States of America internationally in the 400-meter sprint. She was ranked first in the world from 2005 – 2009. In 2012, she again held the number one position in the 400-meter sprint. In addition to winning the World Athletics Award in 2006 and 2009, Sanya Richards-Ross has won three Olympic gold medals in the 4 × 400 meters relay in 2004, 2008, and 2012. She is also the winner of five relay medals at various World Athletics Championships.

Carl Lewis

Country: United States of America

Number of Wins:  2 

Carl Lewis I the first awardee of the Male World Athlete of the Year. After winning the award in 1988, the American sprinter and jump specialist once again grabbed the prize in 1991. He won three gold medals in the Seoul Olympics in men’s 100 meters, long jump, and 4 × 100 meters in 1988. He also snared two gold medals and made world records in the 100 meters and 4 × 100 meters events at the World Championships in Tokyo. In addition to that, he won the silver medal in the men’s long jump final. Carl Lewis achieved the Male Athlete of the Century Award in 1999.

Michael Johnson

Country: United States of America

Number of Wins:  2

Michael Duane Johnson made America proud with four Olympic gold medals and eight gold medals in the World Championships. He also made a number of world records before he was overtaken by his successors. He won the Athlete of the Year Award in 1996 and 1999 for his extraordinary performance.

Kenenisa Bekele  

Country: Ethiopia

Number of Wins:  2

Keneisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who made history with six long-course and five short-course wins in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He is the holder of a total of four Olympic medals. He is the first man who won both the 5000 meters and the 10,000 meters races at the same World Championships in Athletics in 2009. Bekele was the world record holder in the 5000 meters race from 2004 to 2020 and the 10000 meters race from 2005 to 2020. He was honored with the World Athlete of the Year Award in 2004 and 2005. Bekele is a superfast runner with multiple medals in his arsenal. His many achievements have led him to be one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time.

Eliud Kipchoge

Country: Kenya

Number of Wins:  2

Eliud Kipchoge has made Kenya proud by being the greatest marathon runner of all time. He made the world record in marathon with a time of 2:01:09 at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. Out of the six fastest marathons in the world, he has run four. He is a medal holder of the World Championships, Olympics, and Commonwealth Games. Eliud Kipchoge was honored with the World Athletics Award in 2018 and 2019.

Armand Duplantis 

Country: Sweden

Number of Wins:  2

Arman Duplantis is the youngest sports star on this list. The Swedish American pole vaulter set world records in world indoor and outdoor pole vaulting. He is a European Champion, World Champion, Diamond League Champion, and an Olympic Champion. His extraordinary capabilities won him the World Athletics Award in 2020 and 2022.

Conclusion

Athletics is a field of intense competition. It takes a lot of willpower and determination to succeed. I am certain that the terrific ten listed in this list had to overcome a lot of hurdles to achieve their status as the best athletes in the world.

Do comment and let me know who, among these award-winning athletes, impresses you the most.