Will Chebet and Kipyegon be denied another award?

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon (right) with Beatrice Chebet at the end of women's 5000m final. [AFP]

There was no better stage for athletes to settle debates in the run up to the 2025 Tokyo World Championships in September than the Diamond League circuit.

Athletics stars produced spectacular shows as they wowed enthusiasts across the globe.

To recognise the best of the best in the 2025 season, Wanda Diamond League has shortlisted top achievers in the circuit that concluded in Zurich on August 27 and 28, for the Moment of the Year award.

From world records around three continents to the rise of a new generation of world champions, the athletics’ premier one-day series was a show to remember.

After an unsuccessful run at the World Athletics Athlete of the Year awards, Kenyan record holders Beatrice Chebet (5,000m and 10,000m) and Faith Kipyegon (1,500m and the Mile) have been nominated for Diamond League Moment of the Year.

They are the only athletes from the African continent and they are crossing fingers for recognition this time.

They were overlooked in the short listing for the World Athletics Female Track Athlete of the Year in October despite their phenomenal show at the Diamond League and the World Championships triggering questions over the selection process.

Voting for the Wanda Diamond League Moment of the Year 2025 opened on Monday and is expected to close on December 15, giving fans another opportunity to elect their favourite stars for the prestigious recognition.

Like the World Athletics awards, fans cast their vote by either reposting or liking their favourite Diamond League moment through social media before a panel of experts makes a decision, which culminates in the unveiling of the winner.

The shortlist will be revealed on social media pages, the Wanda Diamond League announced.

“The final winner will be decided based on both the fan vote and a separate vote by a panel of experts, with each weighted at 50 percent,” a Diamond League announcement read in part.

According to the circuit, voting will close on December 15 and the winner will be announced on December 18.

After a dominant start to the season, Chebet broke the 5,000m world record in a spectacular race at the Eugene Diamond League in July, becoming the first woman ever to go under 14 minutes.

Last year, Chebet became the first woman to run under 29 minutes for 10,000m as she set a world record 28:54.14 and replayed a similar script in 2025.

Kipyegon on the other hand, broke the 1,500m world record at a Diamond League meeting for the third season in a row in Eugene with 3:48.68, in another phenomenal moment in the circuit.

The Kenyan stars have been nominated for the Moment of the Season alongside global record-breakers, heralding another difficult assignment for fans and the panel of experts.

They include pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, who is fresh from the World Athletics Athlete of the Year award as well as American world 100m champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.

Duplantis has jumped his way to 14 pole vault world records in recent years but few have meant more to him than the 6.28m he jumped at the Stockholm meet in June.

The June achievement was special to him because it was the first time ever that the Swedish pole vault star was breaking the world record on home soil.

Jefferson-Wooden picked up three Diamond League wins ahead of her 100m world title in Tokyo.

“The pick of the bunch came in Silesia, when she equaled Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s meeting record of 10.66 and picked up her first overseas Diamond League victory in the process,” said Wanda Diamond League in an announcement.

In a statement victory ahead of his 100m world title, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville defied torrential rain to clock 9.87 in Lausanne and land the second of two attention-grabbing victories over Olympic champion Noah Lyles.

In the field events, German Julian Weber and Neeraj Chopra made their first big throws past the 90m mark at the Doha meet, a contest that earned them nomination to the Moment of the Year.