2009 World Athletics Gala Logo (© IAAF.org)
MonteCarlo With just over a week to go to the crowning of the 2009 World Athletes of the Year, five women remain in contention for athletics’ major award. Let’s take a look back at their seasons…
Finalists are: (in alphabetical order)
Women
Yelena Isinbayeva Russia
Sanya Richards USA
Valerie Vili New Zealand
Blanka Vlasic Croatia
Anita Wlodarczyk Poland
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Yelena Isinbayeva
27 years old
o Set a World outdoor record 5.06m in Zürich
o Set a World Indoor record 5.00m in Donetsk
o Has won her second share of the ÅF Golden League Jackpot
o Has set the four highest marks in the world in 2009
o Has won 12 out 14 competitions (indoors and outdoors) in 2009
Sanya Richards
24 years old
o Finally struck 400m gold in Berlin and anchored the US 4x400m to a second gold medal
o Has won her third share of the ÅF Golden League Jackpot
o Won the World Athletics Final 400m in 49.95
o Has set the 4 fastest times in the world in 2009
o Has won 10 out of 11 competitions in 2009
Valerie Vili
25 years old
o Won the Shot Put gold medal at the Berlin World Championships
o Has improved the Oceania record twice and broken 21 metres for the first time
o Has set 9 of the ten farthest throws in the world in 2009 and the best in five years
o Won the World Athletics Final in a competition record 21.07m
o Has remained undefeated throughout 2009
Blanka Vlasic
26 years old
o Won the High Jump gold medal at the Berlin World Championships
o Has become the sole second all-time outdoor performer at 2.08m
o Has cleared the highest bar outdoors in 22 years!
o Has jumped 14 times over 2 metres and 8 times over 2.03m
o Has won 19 out of 23 competitions (indoors and outdoors) in 2009
Anita Wlodarczyk
24 years old
o Won the Hammer Throw gold medal at the Berlin World Championships
o Set a 77.96m World record in Berlin
o Has set the two farthest throws in the world in 2009
o Has thrown 9 times over 75 metres
o Has won 12 out of 14 competitions in 2009
The winners of the 2009 World Athlete of the Year Awards will be announced live, on stage, during the 2009 World Athletics Gala, which will take place in Monaco, on 22 November 2009.
