The World Athlete of the Year award is a prize that can be won by athletes participating in events within the sport of athletics organised by World Athletics (formerly named IAAF), including track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking. The first edition of awards in 1997, with winners Bulgaria's high jumper Stefka Kostadinova and Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, had its results annulled. The athletes awarded in 1988 were Americans, namely sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner and track and field athlete Carl Lewis.