INdoors 2021 was actually a full season--although the USATF meet, the NBIN, and the Millrose Games were not held!
Collegiates had a full season, after their 2020 INdoor NCAA Championships was cancelled!
And they produced, to say the least!
So, bottom line, this blog has a wealth of material from which to choose its Athletes of the Year, Performances of the Year, Personalities of the Year, and the Events of the Year!
And here we go!
World Athlete of the Year--MEN
GRANT HOLLOWAY was an easy choice, despite his 7.29 for 60H not being the only World Record!
He had 7 marks under 7.40--in fact, no one else had even one!
And some of those were heat times!!
Honorable Mentions--Ryan Crouser and Hughes Zango deserve Special Mention for their own WR's!
Other HM's go to Elliot Giles, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Getnet Wale, Cooper Teare, Maksim Nedesekau, Mondo Duplantis, Renaud Lavillenie, and Kevin Mayer!
US Athlete of the Year--MEN
GRANT HOLLOWAY, following my rule that if a US athlete leads the World, he or she also gets US AOY!
Honorable Mentions--Ryan Crouser, Matt Boling, Terrance Laird, Noah Williams, Donavan Brazier, Bryce Hoppel, Cooper Teare, Cole Hocker, Emmanuel Bor, KC Lightfoot, and JuVaughn Harrison!
Collegiate Athlete of the Year--MEN
KC LIGHTFOOT--for breaking the PV Record, and for consistency!
Honorable Mentions--Matt Boling, Terrance Laird, Micah Williams, Cooper Teare, Cole Hocker, Wesley Kiptoo, Noah Williams, JuVaughn Harrison, Thomas Mardel, Turner Washington, Karel Tilga, and the University of Oregon Distance Medley Relay team!
High School Athlete of the Year--MEN
JAYLEN SLADE, for his HSR in the 60!
However, this was a tough choice, because Hobbs Kessler broke the HSR in the Mile!
I chose Slade because his HSR beat the one by Noah Lyles!
Thus, it came down to the quality of the Record broken, rather than solely for the new Record itself!!
Honorable Mentions--Mr Kessler, of course!!
But the Men's HS depth was missing this year!
Thus, only Kessler, Kamyren Garrett, and Logan Coles make HM this season!
World Athlete of the Year--WOMEN
GUDEF TSEGAY, for leading the World in 3 events, and for her WR in the 1500, breaking an already solid mark by the venerable Genzebe Dibaba!!
Honorable Mentions--Femke Bol, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Athing Mu, Ariole (sp?) Dongmo, Yaroslava Mahuchukh, Elle Purrier, Nadine Visser, and Nafi Thiam!
US Athlete of the Year--WOMEN
ATHING MU!!
Let me explain!
She didn't break any American Records, as did Tara Davis, but she led 3 events with World Class times.
But what decided it was her Relay leg of 49.54!!
No one--in a Relay or in the flat 400--has ever run faster INdoors!
In fact, I gave Mu strong consideration for my WORLD AOY--for that reason!!
Honorable Mentions--Tara Davis, Abby Steiner, Sandi Morris, Olivia Gruver, Elle Purrier, Anna Hall, Erin Reese, Raven Saunders, and Shamier Little!
Collegiate Athlete of the Year--WOMEN
ATHING MU, for all the reasons listed above! CR's of 1:25.80 & 1:58.40! Becoming the first to go sub-2:00! And for that unbelievable Relay leg!
All as an 18 year old Freshman!!
Honorable Mentions--Kemba Nelson, Abby Steiner, Tara Davis, Ruth Usoro, and Tyra Gittens!
High School Athlete of the Year--WOMEN
SOPHIA GORRIARAN for her series of fast 800's! But also for her fast 600!
Honorable Mentions--Probably mostly due to there being no New Balance meet this year, the depth of stars on the Women's HS front was lacking!
That said, I give an HM to Avery Lewis!
World Performance of the Year--MEN
GRANT HOLLOWAY's 7.29!
What else??
Honorable Mentions--Hughes Zango's 59-3.50 TJ, Elliot Giles's 1:43.63 in the 800, Jakob Ingebrigtsen's 3:31.80 for 1500, Getnet Wale's 7:24.98 in the 3000, Cooper Teare's & Cole Hocker's 3:50+ Miles, Maksim Nedesakau's 7-9.25 HJ, Mondo Duplantis's 20-0 & Renaud Lavillenie's 19-10.50 PV's, Kevin Mayer's Heptathlon of 6392, and Ryan Crouser's 74-10.50, and his other great marks!
US Performance of the Year--MEN
GRANT HOLLOWAY's 7.29!
Honorable Mentions--Crouser's 74-10.50, KC Lightfoot's 19-8.25, Matt Boling's 20.19 & Terrance Laird's 20.20, Noah Williams's 44.71, Donavan Brazier's 1:44.21 & Bryce Hoppel's 2:16.27, Teare's and Hocker's speedy Miles, Emmanuel Bor's 13:05.60, and JuVaughn Harrison's 27-8.75!
Collegiate Performance of the Year--MEN
KC LIGHTFOOT's 19-8.25!
Honorable Mentions--Micah Williams's 6.49, Boling & Laird's fast 200's, Teare's & Hocker's you-know-whats, Wes Kiptoo's 13:23.77, Noah Williams's 44.71, Thomas Mardel's 80-3 in the WT, Turner Washington's CR of 71-8.50, JuVaughn Harrison's 27-8.75, and Karel Tilga's Hept of 6264!
High School Performance of the Year--MEN
JAYLEN SLADE, for beating a HSR set by Noah Lyles!
Honorable Mentions--Hobbs Kessler!
World Performance of the Year--WOMEN
GUDEF TSEGAY's 3:53.09, chopping two seconds off Ms Dibaba's time--and pacing herself!!
Honorable Mentions--Elle Purrier's 9:10.28 in the Two Mile, Abby Steiner's 22.38, Shaunae Miller-Uibo's 50.21, Athing Mu's 1:25.80 in the 600 (and her Relay leg of 49.54), Tsegay's 1:57.52, Nadine Visser's 7.77 in the 60H, Mahuchukh's 6-9 in the HJ, Tara Davis's 22-9 LJ, and Nafi Thiam's Pentathlon score of 4904!
US Performance of the Year--WOMEN
ATHING MU's 49.54 anchor leg in the 4 X 400 Relay!!
Honorable Mentions--Mu's 1:25.80 & 1:58.40, Steiner's 22.38, Tara Davis's 22-9, Purrier's Two Mile AR of 9:10.28 (with splits of 4:42 & 4:28!), Morris's 16-0.75, and Anna Hall's 4590 in the Pentathlon!
Collegiate Performance of the Year--WOMEN
ATHING MU--again!!--for her 49.54 anchor leg!
And Ms Mu's 600 & 800 times, Kemba Nelson's 7.05 CR, Ms Davis's 22-9 CR, Ms Steiner's tying of the 200 CR, Tyra Gitten's CR, Anna Hall's 4590, and the Texas A&M's CR of 3:26.27!
BTW, that was NOT where Mu ran that incredible time--She ran it in her team's NCAA win of 3:26.68!!
High School Performance of the Year--WOMEN
SOPHIA GORRIARAN's 600 time of 1:27.02!
But also her fast 800's!
Honorable Mentions--Roisin Willis's 600 of 1:27.20 (in the same race as Gorriaran!), and Avery Lewis's 21-2.50 Frosh Class Record!!
World Personality of the Year--MEN
RYAN CROUSER!
I loved the cowboy hats he wore, and his humble yet confident demeanor.
His interviews were always a joy!
US Personality of the Year--MEN
RYAN CROUSER!
Collegiate Personality of the Year--MEN
WESLEY KIPTOO!!
For going out in his fast 5000 at OUTdoor WORLD RECORD pace for the first 1000!!
Crazy, maybe!
But, IMO, the way distance races should be run!
(OK, so maybe not THAT fast a start!!)
High School Personality of the Year--MEN
HOBBS KESSLER--for his emergence on the elite stage from "nowhere". But also for his friendship and connection to a legend--Nick Willis! (How many HS kids can brag about that??)
World Personality of the Year--WOMEN
GUDEF TSEGAY!
To tell the truth, I don't know much about her personality!
But I was impressed by her choosing to go for fast times over a few distances, while pacing herself for the most part!!
US Personality of the Year--WOMEN
ELLE PURRIER--for being the fastest cow milker in the World, and for taking on a mostly disrespected distance, the Two Mile!!
Collegiate Personality of the Year--WOMEN
ATHING MU, for every reason!
High School Personality of the Year--WOMEN
AVERY LEWIS, for bringing the Frosh Class Record from the 19's to the 21's in one (or two) leaps!!
As I noted at the onset, we saw a fairly complete INdoor season in 2021 (& late 2020!).
Last year, the season lost 2 of the biggest marks-producing meets--the NCAA & NBIN!
No NBIN this year either, but so many other opportunities!
(I didn't even do a count last year of the marks that made my various DDD's!
So here are my Events of the Year in my 4 core groups!1
The World Men have 45 marks listed for 2021 in my Record Book!
The Women weren't as productive on the World stage, attaining just 33 marks!
For the US, the Women did better, as they have 41 marks to the Men's 33.
The Collegiate scene were by far the busiest!!
The Men have 63 marks in my Book from 2021, while the Women have 55!!
That's 118 total for the College crowd!
The High Schoolers were the least productive!
The Women have 23 marks, while the Men have just 13!!
But overall--for all 4 core groups--the totals were VERY close!
The Men have 154 marks, while the Women total 152!
The Grand Total is back over 300--total of 306!!
Finally, we have which event led each group!
World MEN--
The 800 had 5 marks.
The 1500, 3000, and the SP had 4 each!
With 3 apiece were the 200, 400, 60H, and the WT!
US MEN--
The 400 & 800 led with 5 each!
The SP got 4.
With 3 is the 200!
Collegiate MEN--
The 5000 had a whopping 8 marks!!
The 4 X 400 Relay & the DMR each got 6 marks!
The Mile has 5.
With 4 marks are the 400, 1500, 60H, and the LJ!
The 200 and the SP have 3 apiece!
High School MEN--
The 200 has 3 marks!
World WOMEN--
The Two Mile (!!!) leads with 7 marks dated 2021!
With 3 each are the 200, 800, 3000, and the 4 X 400 Relay!
US WOMEN--
Leading with 5 marks each are the 300, Two Mile, and the WT!
The 400 has 4 marks!
The 200, 800, and the SP have 3 apiece!
Collegiate WOMEN--
The 800 leads with 7 marks!
The LJ and WT have 6 each!
The 60 & the 400 have 4 each!
With 3 apiece are the 200, 3000, TJ, the 4 X 400 Relay, and the DMR!
High School WOMEN--
The Pole Vault is far in front with 7 marks!
The 3000 and Two Mile have 3 each!!
Thus the Event of the Year is the Collegiate 5000, with 8!!
I'll have my next results post soon--including all the stuff from the first BIG week of OUTdoor T&F, with the Texas Relays standing out!
See you soon!
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