The sprinter clinched back-to-back Olympic titles in the 100 metres and 200m, and improved on a 4x100m relay silver at Rio 2016 by helping Jamaica secure gold in the Japanese capital.

She also just missed out on breaking long-standing world records, running the 100m in 10.54sec in Eugene in August and clocking 21.53 in the 200m at Tokyo 2020 - both the second-fastest times in history.

Further success for Thompson-Herah came at the Diamond League Final in Zürich in September, where she earned 100m gold.

Thompson-Herah was controversially overlooked by the Association of National Olympic Committees for its Best Female Athlete of Tokyo 2020 award, an honour which went to Canadian swimmer Margaret Mac Neil after a dramatic victory in the 100m butterfly.

However, Thompson-Herah is included in the five finalists from the initial shortlist of 10 for the World Athletics annual award.

A three-way process was used to whittle down the contenders, featuring a 50 per cent weighting for votes from the World Athletics Council and 25 per cent for both the "World Athletics Family" and the public.

Venezuela's Rojas' hopes of winning a second consecutive Female World Athlete of the Year award are still alive, after she made the final five having built on a triple jump silver at Rio 2016 by winning gold at this year's Games.

Rojas' 15.67 metres jumped at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo broke a world record that had stood for almost 26 years, and she also triumphed at the Diamond League Final.

The Netherlands' double Olympic gold medallist Sifan Hassan is also among the finalists, having won the 5,000 metres and 10,000m and earned a 1500m bronze in Tokyo.

Hassan broke the 10,000m world record in June with a 29min 6.82sec effort, although Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey beat that again two days later.

American Sydney McLaughlin set a world record of 51.46sec on her way to 400m hurdles gold at Tokyo 2020, and added to it by helping her country to victory in the 4x400m relay.

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon completes the line-up of the finalists, having retained her 1500m Olympic title this.

Another 1500m title for Kipyegon was secured in the Diamond League, while her 3:51.07 in Monaco in July broke the Kenyan national record for the distance.

The United States' Athing Mu was among the five Olympic champions who missed out on becoming finalists.

Mu triumphed in the 800m, and also contributed to the successful 4x400m relay effort.

Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn clocked 12.26 in the 100m hurdles at Tokyo 2020, setting an Olympic record and moving joint-fourth on the all-time list, but it was not enough for her to make the final five.

Valarie Allman of the US and Authorised Neutral Athlete Mariya Lasitskene - Olympic and Diamond League champions in the discus and high jump respectively - both failed to make the cut, as well Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo, despite a successful defence of her 400m Olympic title.

The Female World Athlete of the Year - along with its male equivalent - will be announced on December 1.