Sweden’s pole vault star Armand Duplantis and American sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone were named the World Athletes of the Year at the 2025 World Athletics awards ceremony.

 

 

In 2025, Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault world record four times and was unbeaten in all 16 of his competitions, including sweeping both the indoor and outdoor world titles.

 

The 26-year-old has become the first male pole vaulter in modern athletics history to remain undefeated in a single event for two consecutive years.

 

American McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400 metre title in Tokyo with a time of 47.78 seconds, breaking a 42-year-old World Championships record. She became the first athlete in history to win world titles in both the 400 metre flat and the 400 metre hurdles. 

 

Duplantis was also announced as the men’s field athlete of the year, while McLaughlin-Levrone as the women’s track athlete of the year.

 

Spanish racewalker Maria Perez and Kenyan long-distance runner Sabastian Sawe were confirmed as the out-of-stadium athletes of the year, while Kenya’s 800 metre runner Emmanuel Wanyonyi received the men’s track athlete of the year honor and Australia’s high jumper Nicola Olyslagers claimed the women’s field athlete of the year accolade.

 

This year’s Rising Stars went to world medalists Edmund Serem of Kenya and China’s Zhang Jiale.