finalist

American  

[fahyn-l-ist] / ˈfaɪn l ɪst /

noun

1. a person entitled to participate in the final or decisive contest in a series, as in musical or athletic competition.

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finalist British  

/ ˈfaɪnəlɪst /

noun

1. a contestant who has reached the last and decisive stage of a sports or other competition

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Etymology

Origin of finalist

First recorded in 1895–1900; final + -ist

Example Sentences

He was a finalist for an Online Journalism Award for his coverage of Simone Biles, and his co-produced series on topical political issues was a Webby Award honoree.

From The Wall Street Journal

Can you name every Women's League Cup finalist?

From BBC

But that did not affect Hodgkinson as she dominated Friday's heat, before cruising to victory in Saturday's semi-final in a time faster than all but one of her fellow finalist's personal bests.

From BBC

She was part of a team that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020 for its investigation into Amazon, and was the winner of the 2021 Gerald Loeb Award for Beat Reporting.

From The Wall Street Journal

They claimed some impressive scalps along the way - beating Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase before winning both legs against last season's finalists Inter Milan in the knockout play-offs.

From BBC