Farah in the running for IAAF Athlete of Year award

Britain’s Mo Farah has been shortlisted for the 2011 World Athlete of the Year award by the sport’s governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Farah won gold in the 5,000 metres at the World Championships in South Korea last month and claimed silver in a closely-fought 10,000m.

The medals topped off a successful year for the 28-year-old distance runner, who also set new British records for both distances and became New York half-marathon champion.

Farah also claimed gold in the 3,000m at the European Indoor Championships in Paris after moving to Oregon at the start of the year to be coached by Alberto Salazar.

The IAAF announced the names of ten men and ten women who made the shortlist, with the winners to be announced on 12 November.

Farah faces stiff competition from Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, who won the World Championships 100m following Bolt’s disqualification and ran the second-fastest 200m of all time, 19.26 seconds, in the Diamond League meeting in Brussels.

Also included are Kenya’s marathon world record holder Patrick Makau, middle-distance runner David Rudisha, German discus thrower Robert Harting, Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi and Grenadian sprinter Kirani James.

American triple-jumper Christian Taylor and compatriot Jesse Williams, who competes in the high jump, also made the shortlist.

The women’s list includes heptathlete Tatyana Chernova, who beat Jessica Ennis to claim gold in the World Championships. She is joined by two fellow Russians, high jumper Anna Chicherova and javelin thrower Maria Abakumova, American duo Lashinda Demus and Carmelita Jeter, New Zealand shot-putter Valerie Adams and Jamaican sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Kenyan long distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot, Botswanan 400m runner Amantle Montsho, who won her country’s first ever gold medal at the World Championships, and Australian sprint hurdler Sally Pearson complete the shortlist.

The award candidates have been selected by an IAAF panel of eight experts with the winners to be decided by an email poll. At the conclusion of the voting process, three male and three female finalists will be selected and announced by the IAAF. The Council of the International Athletic Foundation will then select the male and female winners from the finalists, with the announcement taking place during the 2011 World Athletics Gala next month.