Usain Bolt favourite to win IAAF’s 2015 World Athlete of the Year award

New Delhi: Jamaican super-athlete Usain Bolt, along with two Americans - decathlete Ashton Eaton and triple jumper Christian Taylor were confirmed as the finalists for the 2015 World Athlete of the Year award.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced the names of the three finalists for the prestigious award on Wednesday. In the women's section, Genzebe Dibaba, Dafne Schippers and Anita Wlodarczyk were nominated for the prize.

The 29-year-old Jamaican sprinter retained his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles at the world championships in Beijing in August. He has won the award five times previously, in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was beaten in 2010 byt David Rudisha and in 2014 by Renaud Lavillenie.

Eaton, 27, 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, 25, 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.

Genzebe Dibaba, Dafne Schippers and Anita Wlodarczyk

In the women's section, Ethiopia’s Dibaba will compete with flying Dutchwoman Schippers and Polish hammer thrower Wlodarczyk.

Dibaba, 24, won the 1,500m title in Beijing, having set a world record of three minutes 50.07sec for the event a month earlier in Monaco. She also set a world indoor 5,000m record of 14:18.86 and took 5,000m bronze at the worlds.

Schippers, 23, was one of the break-out stars of the year. She clocked a European and championship record of 21.63sec to win the world 200m title after clinching silver in the 100.

Wlodarczyk, 30, was the most dominant athlete winning all 11 of her competitions, including the world title in China. She also became the first woman to throw beyond 80m, setting a world record of 81.08m in Cetniewo in August.