Pole vault star Duplantis improved his world record as recently as Friday to 6.27 at a gala in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The gold at the Olympic Games in Paris last summer – when he simultaneously cleared the world record mark of 6.25 – had an enormous global impact.
Duplantis is nominated for winning his second consecutive Olympic gold and for improving his world record ten times.
Other nominees in the male athlete category:
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, French swimmer Léon Marchand, Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar, and Dutch Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.
Sarah Sjöström won double gold – 50 and 100 meters freestyle – at the Olympic Games in Paris, but it wasn't enough to make it among the six competing for the title of female athlete of the year.
The six nominees:
American gymnast Simone Biles, Spanish football player Aitana Bonmatí, Dutch long-distance runner Sifan Hassan, Kenyan middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon, American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka.
The winners will be presented at a gala in Madrid on April 21.
