World Athlete of the Year 2015 men's finalists: Bolt, Eaton and Taylor

Usain Bolt, Ashton Eaton and Christian Taylor are the three men’s finalists for the 2015 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award.

Bolt successfully defended his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015. The Jamaican sprinter clocked a world-leading time of 19.55 when winning the 200m.

Eaton won his second successive gold medal at the World Championships, setting a decathlon world record of 9045. Within his series, the US athlete set a world decathlon best of 45.00 for 400m.

Taylor won the triple jump title in Beijing with a North American record of 18.21m, the second-best jump in history. The US jumper also won the Diamond Race title in his event.

Last month the IAAF Family* was asked to select nine men and nine women from each of the following categories: sprints, hurdles, middle and long distance, road running, race walking, jumps, throws, combined events and multi-terrain.

The top-voted athletes in each category formed the longlist, from which an international panel of 10 experts** selected the three finalists.

*IAAF Family: IAAF & IAF Council members; IAAF national member federations; IAAF Committee & Commission members; IAAF meeting directors; IAAF athlete ambassadors; athletes’ representatives; top athletes; members of the international press; IAAF staff members and the IAAF’s official partners

**The international panel of athletics experts includes representatives from all six continental areas of the IAAF

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only