World record holders Armand Duplantis and Yulimar Rojas have been named male and female athletes of the year at the World Athletics Awards.
In an unbeaten season, Swedish pole vaulter Duplantis set an indoor word record of 6.18m and an outdoor record of 6.15m – the latter clearance breaking Sergey Bubka’s 26-year-old record.
Venezuelan triple-jumper Rojas set a new indoor record of 15.43m this year, breaking a mark that had lasted 21 years.
Duplantis cleared 6.17m and 6.18m on back-to-back weekends in February and finished the year unbeaten in 16 competitions.
“I think it’s cool when people describe me as the face of the sport, but it’s not something that I need to be,” the 21-year-old said.
“I try to jump high, I try to break world records and I try to just keep improving.”
