Sir Mo Farah has been nominated for the 2017 IAAF World Athlete of the Year award for the third time in four years after a stellar summer saw him become the first athlete to claim ten successive global track distance titles.

Announcing that 2017 would be his last on the track, Farah stormed to history at the World Championships in London with victory in the 10,000m on the opening night, not only his second successful defence of the title, but a tenth global distance crown in a row.

The 34-year-old’s bid for an 11th in London saw him pick up silver in the 5,000m before he bid farewell to the UK with victory in the 3,000m and the track completely in Zurich with another win over twelve and a half laps.

And with just over two weeks to go until the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017, the IAAF have revealed the names of the finalists for the 2017 IAAF World Athlete of the Year with Farah one of three alongside fellow world champions Mutaz Essa Barshim and Wayde van Niekerk.

Farah was last nominated for the IAAF World Athlete of the Year as part of a ten-strong list in 2016 having defended both the 10,000m and 5,000m titles at the Rio Olympic Games.

His last nomination before that was in 2013, again as part of a ten-strong list, after completing the first of two long-distance doubles he would achieve at a World Championships in Moscow.

A three-way voting process determined the finalists. The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family cast their votes by email while fans voted online via the IAAF’s social media platforms.

The IAAF Council’s vote counted for 50 per cent of the result while the IAAF Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result. Voting closed on 16 October.

Farah lost out to Usain Bolt on both occasions in 2013 and 2016 with this year’s winner to be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017 in Monaco on Friday November 24.