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Mbalula congratulates Semenya, Van Niekerk

Cape Town - Minister of Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, has congratulated Caster Semenya and Wayde van Niekerk following their nominations for the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Athlete of the Year awards. 

“Our athletes continue to make the country proud uniting us behind our common vision of a winning nation. It has been a year full of activities for athletics and our South African athletes represented us well. Wayde’s record breaking performance and Caster’s thrilling run will be the highlights in sporting history. Both athletes affirmed us as a nation of champions. It is with pride and excitement to learn of their nominations. These prestigious awards present yet another platform to inspire more young athletes to represent our country with excellence,” Mbalula said. 

Mbalula called on South Africans to use the IAAF social media platforms and website to vote for Semenya and Van Niekerk so to contribute in a pubic voting process that will, among others, be factored towards their win. 

The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family* will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF's social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook and Twitter later this week; a 'like' or 'favourite' will count as one vote.

The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25% of the final result.

Voting closes on 1 November.

**IAAF Family: IAAF member federations, IAAF Committee members, IAAF meeting directors, IAAF athlete ambassadors, athletes’ representatives, top athletes, members of the international press, IAAF staff members and the IAAF’s official partners.

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