Africans Dominate List Of World Athlete Of The Year 2017 Finalists

Mo Farah and Mutaz Essa Barshim are both being considered for the prestigious IAAF Athlete of the Year award Getty Images

Africans dominate the list of finalists competing to be named the IAAF World Athlete of the Year.

BBC Africa Sport report continues:

Five out of six nominees have African heritage, including all three of the men's finalists.

Somali-born long distance runner Sir Mo Farah, who competed for Great Britain, is battling Mutaz Essa Barshim, a Qatari high jumper born to parents of Sudanese origin.

South African sprinter Wayde van Niekerk is the third athlete competing for the prestigious title.

In the women's category, Ethiopian long distance runner Almaz Ayana is hoping to beat Greece's Ekaterini Stefanidi, a pole vaulter, and Belgium's Nafissatou Thiam, a heptathlete whose father is Senegalese, to be named athlete of the year.

The winners will be announced at in Monaco on 24 November.