Emmanuel Wanyonyi crowned Male Track Athlete of the Year
By Joel Masibo, December 1, 2025Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi has been crowned as World Athletics Male Track Athlete of the Year, following a colourful Awards Gala in Monaco on Sunday night, November 30, 2025.
Wanyonyi was toe-to-toe for the prestigious award with American sprints sensation Noah Lyles, but eventually reigned supreme over the Olympic 100m champion.
Also Watch: Light Moment as Faith Kipyegon Says Ugali in Tokyo Fueled Wanyonyi’s Gold Victory.
Wanyonyi’s year in numbers
The 21-year-old has been having a fantastic year in 2025. On April 5, at the 2025 Grand Slam Track Kingston meeting, while competing as a challenger, Wanyonyi won the 1500 metres ahead of the 2024 Olympic medallists Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, and Yared Nuguse, in a time of 3:35.18.
The next day, the Kenyan sensation finished second in the 800 metres, behind Marco Arop. With 12 points earned in the 1500 metres and 8 points earned in the 800 metres, he was crowned the men’s short distance Slam Champion of the meeting.
On June 15, 2025, Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran a world lead of 1:41.95 in the Stockholm Diamond League. He went on to improve his world lead to 1:41.44 at Herculis on July 11. On August 28, he won the Zürich Diamond League Final in 1:42.37, before winning the 800 metres at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in a championship record time of 1:41.86. On September 20, 2025.
Lyle’s year in numbers
Noah Lyles, returning from injury, won the 200m at the 2025 Monaco Diamond League in 19.88s, beating Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo.
At the 2025 World Athletics Championships, Lyles won the bronze medal in the 100 m with a time of 9.89s.
He then clapped back in the 200 m, winning his 4th consecutive title with a time of 19.52 s. Lyles then proceeded to anchor the US 4 × 100 m relay team to victory with a time of 37.29s.
A final round of voting cast by fans of the sport took place between 4 and 9 November to help select the overall women’s and men’s World Athlete of the Year.