ATHLETICS NEWS - South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya have been nominated for the IAAF's World Athlete of the Year awards.
Controversial world 100-metre champion Justin Gatlin, however, was left off the list of nominees.
Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, was a surprise winner of the 100m in London in August as Jamaican great Usain Bolt bowed out of his top-class career with a disappointing bronze medal.
When the IAAF named on Monday their 10 male and female nominees for the 2017 awards, Gatlin's name was conspicuous by its absence.
It is the first time since 2004 – when Gatlin was also omitted – that the world or Olympic 100m champion has been left off the list.
Gatlin's omission is no surprise, though, as the IAAF changed its rules in 2015 to exclude from its list anyone who has ever been sanctioned for a serious doping offence.
That came after Germany's Olympic discus champion Robert Harting asked for his own name to be removed from the list in protest at Gatlin's inclusion in 2014.
