Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sifan Hassan, Brigid Kosgei, Dalilah Muhammad and Yulimar Rojas are the five women finalists.
On the men’s side, Joshua Cheptegei, Sam Kendricks, Eliud Kipchoge, Noah Lyles and Karsten Warholm are the five.
Only Fraser-Pryce in 2013 and Kipchoge in 2018 are previous winners of the title World Athlete of the Year among the finalists.
The winners will be announced at the World Athletics Awards on Saturday evening live on stage at the Grimaldi Forum.
A three-way voting process determined the finalists. All are Doha World champions, except marathon runners Kosgei and Kipchoge who achieved the best marks ever.