Race walker Takayuki Tanii, who captured a bronze medal in the men's 50-km competition at this summer's IAAF World Championships in Beijing, was named the athlete of the year at the annual Athletic Awards of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Marathoner Mai Ito, race walkers Yusuke Suzuki and Hirooki Arai and the men's 4x100 relay members (Kazuma Oseto, Kenji Fujimitsu, Yoshihide Kiryu and Kotaro Taniguchi) for the World Relays in Bahamas were also honored.

High school sensation Abdul Hakim Sani Brown and female javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi were selected as the best young athletes.