Because 2024 was an Olympic year, track and field had the world’s attention, as it tends to do every four years. With the spotlight turned up as high as it will ever be, Muslim distance runner Sifan Hassan delivered a historic performance that earned the 31-year-old the Women’s World Athlete of the Year award by the World Athletics organization.

At the Paris Olympics in August, Hassan — who was born in Ethiopia but represents the Netherlands — became the first woman to medal in the 5,000-meter run (bronze), the 10,000-meter run (bronze), and the marathon (gold) at the same Games. She set a new Olympic record in the marathon, covering the 26-mile trek in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds.

For her efforts in the marathon, Hassan also won the World Athletics’ award for Women’s Out-of-Stadium Athlete.

“This year, my curiosity pushed me to take a risk and compete in three distances at the Paris Olympics,” Hassan wrote in an Instagram post following the award ceremony in Monaco. “It was terrifying, and that made each finish line more meaningful. It wasn’t perfect, but sometimes happiness comes from embracing imperfections.”

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola, a 35-year-old Muslim, took home the Men’s Out-of-Stadium award after winning Olympic gold in the men’s marathon in Paris. Tola also set an Olympic record, finishing in 2:06:26.

The full list of World Athletics 2024 award winners:

Women’s World Athlete of the Year: Sifan Hassan (Netherlands; distance)
Men’s World Athlete of the Year: Letsile Tebogo (Botswana; sprints)

Women’s Track: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (United States; hurdles)
Women’s Field: Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine; high jump)
Women’s Out-of-Stadium: Sifan Hassan
Men’s Track: Letsile Tebogo
Men’s Field: Mondo Duplantis (Sweden, pole vault)
Men’s Out-of-Stadium: Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia; distance)
Women’s Rising Star: Sembo Almayew (Ethiopia; distance)
Men’s Rising Star: Mattia Furlani (Italy; long jump)