World Athletics Awards: Kenya's Sawe and Britain's Kerr Battle for Moment of the Year in Monaco

Two of the most jaw-dropping performances in recent athletic history are going head-to-head at the World Athletics Awards, with Kenya's Sabastian Sawe and Great Britain's Josh Kerr both nominated for the sport's most coveted individual moment of the year. The ceremony is scheduled to take place in Monaco on 29 November.

The Performances That Stunned the World

April's London Marathon will be remembered for a very long time. Sawe, 31, became the first athlete ever to win a competitive marathon in under two hours, crossing the finish line in a staggering one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. That time shattered the previous world record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in 2023 — itself a record that had shocked the athletics world. What made London even more extraordinary was the depth of the race: Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha also broke the two-hour barrier in second place, and Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, finishing third, also beat the old world record. It was a race that rewrote the history books on multiple levels.

Then came July's London Diamond League, where Josh Kerr delivered a moment that sent the crowd at London Stadium into a frenzy. The 29-year-old Scotsman ran the mile in three minutes 42.66 seconds, obliterating a world record that had stood for 27 years. Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj had held that record since 1999, and Kerr erased it by nearly half a second — a massive margin at the elite level of middle-distance running.

The third nominee is a team effort: Botswana's men's 4x400m relay squad, who claimed the title at the World Relays in front of a passionate home crowd, delivering a moment of national pride for the southern African nation.

Why It Matters for Ghana and Africa

For Ghanaians and African sports fans broadly, these nominations carry significant continental weight. Kenya and Ethiopia — two of Africa's dominant athletics powerhouses — are at the centre of this story. Sawe's sub-two-hour marathon is not merely a personal milestone; it is an African achievement that underscores the continent's enduring supremacy in long-distance running. The fact that two of the three nominees for Moment of the Year represent African nations, and that the third nominee — Botswana — is also African, speaks to how thoroughly the continent continues to shape the global athletics landscape.

For Ghana, which has historically produced competitive sprinters and middle-distance athletes, moments like these serve as both inspiration and a benchmark. The growing profile of African athletics on the world stage also strengthens the case for greater investment in sports infrastructure and athlete development across the continent, including in Ghana.

It is also worth noting that the late Kelvin Kiptum, whose marathon record Sawe surpassed, was himself a beloved figure in Kenyan and African athletics. His record standing for less than two years before being broken illustrates just how rapidly the sport is evolving.

What to Watch at the Monaco Ceremony

Beyond the Moment of the Year award, the Monaco ceremony will recognise the men's and women's athletes of the year, a rising star, and the coach of the year, among other honours. With African athletes dominating long-distance events globally and continuing to push boundaries, there is every expectation that the continent will feature prominently across multiple categories.

The World Athletics Awards are widely regarded as the sport's equivalent of an Oscars night — a moment to celebrate the individuals and performances that defined a remarkable year on the track and roads. This year's nominees have set a particularly high bar.