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 on Sunday.

Sweden's world pole vault champion Armand Duplantis speaks on stage after receiving the Men's World athlete of the year award during the World Athletics Awards 2025 in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Nov. 30, 2025. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

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. According to World Athletics, 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.

McLaughlin-Levrone won the women's 400m 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 400m flat and the 400m hurdles. She also helped Team USA secure gold in the 4x400m relay at the Tokyo Worlds.

Duplantis was also announced as the men's field athlete of the year and 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 800m 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. Zhang improved the world U20 hammer record to 77.24m at the Chinese Championships in Quzhou and clinched bronze at the World Championships in Tokyo.

Serem also won bronze in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Tokyo Worlds. He was runner-up in the Diamond League final and achieved top four finishes in four other Diamond League meetings during the season.

"I want to thank all the athletes present for their inseparable contribution to a memorable 2025, with its crescendo World Athletics Championships in Tokyo - the most widely covered and commercially impactful edition of our sport's flagship event in its history," said World Athletics president Sebastian Coe during the awards ceremony.

Also in this year's awards, China was honored with the Member Federation Award.