This is my third year choosing Athletes of the Year for my blog!
And I think it's fair to say THIS year's may be the toughest!
When I TRY to explain my choices, you'll understand why!
I'll be doing the same categories (and in the same order!) as last year--meaning the Men go first--with my World, then US AOY picks, followed by my World & US Performances of the Year, and ending with my Personalities of the Year, World & US.
Then I'll do the same for the Women!
Sooooo---let's get going!
World Athlete of the Year--Men
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR
T&FN chose Ashton Eaton as their AOY--and I could fully agree with them--but for one electrifying moment in time!
There he stood, at the top of the runway, his final effort, with the ever-dangerous Pablo Pichardo with HIS last attempt to follow!
Taylor ripped off a chunk of TJ history, coming THIS close to the much-respected WR of Jonathon Edwards!
His 59-9 was a mere 3.50 inches away from removing Edwards from the Record Book, and shattered the American Record!
Nothing against Eaton, but Eaton's WR didn't shock us like Taylor's NEAR-WR did!
Thus, in a VERY close decision, Taylor is Aaron K's T&F Record Book's 2016 Men's Athlete of the Year!
Honorable Mentions go to Wayde Van Niekerk, Asbel Kiprop, Justin Gatlin, Julius Yego, Pawel Fajdek, Joe Kovacs, and Usain Bolt.
US Athlete of the Year--Men
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR
As always, if an American is my World AOY, he or she automatically becomes my AOY for the US!
Believe me, with both Taylor and Eaton being Americans, it made this award all the tougher!
As I intimated above, Eaton was no slouch!
In a blog that honors World Records (and US, Collegiate & HSR's!), it wasn't easy giving this title to someone whose AR loses a few points to someone's WORLD Record! (And who ALSO broke the American Record!!)
Anyway, deed is done, and I'm satisfied with it.
Are you?
I have a few US Honorable Mentions to announce.
Leading the way has to be LaShawn Merritt, who ran a PR of 43.65 to take Silver in Beijing!
As noted in my "Best & Worst" blog, the 400 was one of the best events in China!
So what about Justin Gatlin?
Would a Gold (or two!!) in the WC's have given this award to Mr Controversy?
(Can I take the fifth on that, please?)
Anyway, add Gatlin to my list of American HM's.
Others who deserve to be here include Evan Jager, Marquis Dendy, Kovacs, and someone who probably should be in a whole separate category!
In fact, let's create a--
Medal of Distinction for--
ARIES MERRITT!
He may have had a messed up kidney--but his HEART was as healthy as they come!!
Thank you, Aries, and may your health and talent return in full!
World Performance of the Year--Men
ASHTON EATON
Yes, Taylor's TJ was great--for all the reasons stated above, but it was NOT a WR!
While Eaton has the talent to add a LOT more than 6 points to his own WR--as he did in Beijing--and maybe someday he will--a WR in my Book (Pun intended!) speaks volumes! (Again, pun intended! LOL)
As this was the only individual WR for the Men (There was the DMR too!), it gets my POY award!
HM's go to Van Niekerk's 43.48, Bolt's 19.55 & Gatlin's 9.74, Kiprop's 3:26.69, Yego's 304-5, and Fajdek's 275-4.
Special Mention--again--goes to Aries Merritt and his 13.04--just DAYS away from a kidney transplant operation!!
US Performance of the Year--Men
ASHTON EATON
Same reasoning as above!
HM's for Merritt, Taylor, Kovacs, Gatlin (for 2 events!), and Jager!
World Personality of the Year--Men
USAIN BOLT
I know, I know, I've heard all the arguments!
But this guy--this GOD??--came through when ONLY Bolt's Coach & Family thought he could come through--AGAIN!!
Not only did he show Gatlin & the World who's BOSS--he did it with his usual flair & panache and almost-frightening nonchalance!!
I really do NOT know what will happen to this sport when he finally retires!!
Gotta like Eliud Kipchoge--who was--HEH--un-FLAP-able in the Berlin Marathon!
How he held himself together--as his SHOE came apart!--and then didn't CRY in interviews post-race--I'll never know!
US Personality of the Year--Men
EVAN JAGER
For maybe the same reasons I just spoke of Mr Kipchoge, Jager's World Class FALL in the 3000SC--as he was on his way to a Tri-Fecta (AR, sub-8:00 time, and a WIN!)--and his seeming composure afterward--says a lot about one's inner fortitude---the place where one's Personality is built!
But I sure wish he'd go the shaggy hair route again---that BUN just doesn't do it for me!!
(I know I'm probably boring you with this, but I hand Mr Merritt yet ANOTHER Special Mention here too!!)
In the same vein, I have to add Justin Gatlin to this list--as HIS composure was phenomenal--in the face of all the HATE tossed his way all season!
And he's just a---nice guy!
OK, folks, let the Women come forth!!
World Athlete of the Year--Women
ANITA WLODARCZYK
Have you seen who Track and Field News picked yet?
It was that OTHER woman who is just as deserving of the Top Prize!
So why did I choose Anita over Genzebe Dibaba?
Here, the explanation is a little more convoluted than in the Men's AOY choice.
BOTH broke World Records!
Again, they were the only two individuals to get WR's (the other ALSO being a DMR!).
They were in two distinct areas of the sport!
Genzebe had run a 3:54.11 earlier in the season.
We all knew she had a SPECIAL talent unseen outside of China (At least, the China of 1993!), and maybe her older sister, Tirunesh!
And WOW!, how she did it!!
After a 2:04 "half", she ran a 60 flat--ALONE!--then finished at the same pace over the final 300!
But Anita did three things better than Genzebe in 2015.
1. She was undefeated all year--in 11 competitions! Dibaba lost a few!
2. Her WR skipped an entire METER (and a half!)--going from the 79's to the 81's. It reminded me of when Bob Beamon skipped the 28 foot world, leaping (literally!) from the 27's to the 29's in the LJ!
3. Genzebe broke the WR by 0.39 seconds! Anita shattered her's by almost 6 FEET!! To be equal (or thereabouts!), Dibaba would have had to run about 3:46 or 3:47!! (Aside: Dibaba SAYS she can run faster--maybe 3:48!!)
Honorable Mentions go to Dafne Schippers & Elaine Thompson, Allyson Felix, Almaz Ayana, Tianna Bartoletta, Caterine Ibarguen, Christine Schwanitz, Denia Caballero, and Brianne Theisen-Eaton.
US Athlete of the Year--Women
ALLYSON FELIX
Oh man!!
How I HATED to ignore---well, maybe not ignore, but bypass!--an American Record!
Shannon Rowbury's removing the iconic Mary Decker Slaney from the AR she set 32 years before--and doing it in an event group I LOVE--could have easily tipped my scale in her direction!
But the OVERALL record of Felix saved it for her!
She ran a sub-22 in her specialty.
She got a PR, and WON--the WC race--against a strong up-and-comer, in Shaunae Miller.
Yes, all that, but what finally gave this award to Felix was her Relay leg in Beijing!
I know--Relay leg splits aren't REAL!
But come on, folks--47.72??!!
A VERY strong Honorable Mention to Rowbury!
And to Shannon's arch-rival all season, Jenny Simpson.
Other HM's go to Tori Bowie, Jasmin Stowers (DESPITE the Beijing BLOW-UP!!), Bartoletta, Keturah Orji, Kara Winger, Michelle Carter, and Shamier Little.
But here too, I'm going to create a Special Award--for--
Courage & Grace in Defeat & Victory.
(Okay, so the name is rather lengthy!)
But there was no other way for me to honor and give full respect to BOTH women!
I speak, of course, about how MOLLY HUDDLE and EMILY INFELD handled themselves after "THAT moment" in Beijing!
It was profoundly sad to watch the horror shown in Molly's face as she stood side-by-side with her friend and foe alike--Ms Infeld--as they awaited the verdict--probably already known to both!
And my tears of sadness became intermingled with tears of joy, watching Emily's face as SHE came to realize the final result!!
LOVE to BOTH of them!
World Performance of the Year--Women
ANITA WLODARCZYK
Oh, how I WANTED to call it a TIE!!
But, as noted above, the margin by which Wlodarczyk broke her own WR, as opposed to the much lesser amount Dibaba broke Qu Yunxia's--made all the difference!
As they say--In any other year...!
Honorable Mention's--besides to Ms Dibaba!--go to both Schippers & Thompson for their magnificent WC race, and to Caballero (and slightly less, to Sandra Perkovic!), as well to Melissa Bishop, Ayana, Stowers, Habiba Ghribi, Ibarguen, Bartoletta, and BTE (for her Gotzis score!).
US Performance of the Year--Women
SHANNON ROWBURY
This one was EASY!!
All season--and in fact, since maybe 2011--the "experts" were wondering not IF, but WHEN--Jenny Simpson would break Mary Slaney's AR of 3:57.12.
She came oh-so-close in 2014 with her 3:57.22.
At that time, Rowbury was more than 2 full seconds slower!
She STILL was--as those two-- as well as Sifan Hassan and a certain Ethiopian!--lined up for the start of the Monaco DL 1500.
We all know what happened.
Dibaba's 3:50.07 was a race against the clock!
And Simpson's race was too--as well as a bid to catch Hassan--who she'd beaten before!
Rowbury, shadowing Jenny until the last straight, attacked, and Jenny, Sure Bet as she was thought to be, couldn't respond.
Rowbury got Mary's AR by a solid 0.83 seconds!!
That said, I must give Simpson's time of 3:57.30 an HM award!
Others go to Stowers's THREE fast early season times of 12.40, 12.39, and 12.35, as well to Kara Winger's near-AR, Felix's 49.26 (NOT her Relay leg, as this award goes to individual efforts only!!), Little's 53.74, Bartoletta in Beijing, Orji's 46's ( A rarity in the US recently!), and to Huddle & Infeld, as well as to Des Linden's Boston effort.
While not a "special" award, I must give HM's to 3 Pole Vaulters--Sandi Morris, Demi Payne, and to THEIR inspiration--Jenn Suhr--for making this the "Year of the Vault" in America (and the World??).
World Personality of the Year--Women
GENZEBE DIBABA
This woman broke the WR for 1500--which had stood for 22 years, and seemed impossible to break!
But I give her this award not so much for breaking the record--but for STATING she WOULD--and then DOING IT!!
What BALLS this babe has!!
(And yes, I'm not ashamed to admit I think she's a BABE!!)
And she's done this several times--both INdoors and OUTdoors!
She "failed" once or twice--her 5000 attempt--but mostly, she succeeded!
So for that kind of CHUTZPAH, I say her's is a Personality many would kill for!!
While this may seem a bit weak in comparison--and it's at least partly based on whether she comes through next summer--my first HM here goes to Sarah Brown!
While she set some PR's this year--it's not for that!
It's because when she was SHOCKED to discover she was pregnant (after running some poor races!), she immediately said her due date of March 21, 2016 would NOT inhibit or prohibit her from trying for a place on TeamUSA for the Rio Olympic Games--with the Trials coming a bare 3 months post-partum!!
She in fact is hard at training--well into her 6th month!--and looking VERY fit!!
US Personality of the Year--Women
MOLLY HUDDLE and EMILY INFELD (a tie!)
For all the reasons noted above--and in my "Best & Worst" post--and well, just everything!!
Thank you again, Ladies, for both Honor and Grace in Victory and Defeat!
We ALL won--because of how you handled it all!!
HM's to Brown and to Kara Goucher (for coming back from all kinds of nightmarish situations!).
Finally, while her OUTdoor mark couldn't match her INdoor mark, I'll give my last Personality Award to--Raven Saunders.
Yes, she broke the Collegiate Frosh Class OUTdoor SP record--but I give an HM to Raven mostly for her EXUBERANCE!!
I've never met her, or seen her perform except on videos, but I'm SURE she'd knock my socks off the moment she walked into the room!!
And that's BEFORE she picked up that 8.8 pound ball!!
And that's a wrap!
The only "news" I have now is really---well, confusing!
Remember my reporting Jenn Suhr had Vaulted 15-5 (4.70) in a NY state meet a few days ago?
And that she'd be vaulting again--on the 29th?
Well, she did--I think.
But it's not THAT she vaulted--it's how high!
I've seen that "4.70/15-5" reported ALSO as 4.75/15-7"!!
Both marks given by more than one source each!
I'll let you know what's what--hopefully in my next results post!
Meanwhile, remember that she reached 15-9 earlier in December, for her 2015-2016 INdoor season World Leader!!
See you soon!
And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
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