Who will be the female athlete of the year?

[ATK]

Sorta like downgrading an Italian cyclist who only had one race outside of Italy, winning something in France . . . Tour de Something-or-other.

From T&FN 2017 rankings on Almaz Ayana who ranked #8 overall:

"Last year’s AOY runner-up (after a No. 4 in ’15) dropped 7 slots in a year where she only ran 3 times and just twice on the track."

[TN1965]

??!!
The TWO WRs count for nothing?
The analogy doesn't work because there's only one TdF every year? The Olympics w400H Olympic Final only comes around every 4 (or 5!) years and it's just as much the pinnacle of her sport as the TdF is for its. She gets penalized because there are other, unrelated, events?

Too bad Rojas jumped 15.67 first, then 15.52. If those two jumps had been reversed, she also would have had two WRs. But she still has #1, #2, #4 and #5 all time marks in this year alone. McLaughlin doesn't even have the #2 all time mark.

[Atticus]

Too bad Rojas jumped 15.67 first, then 15.52. If those two jumps had been reversed, she also would have had two WRs. But she still has #1, #2, #4 and #5 all time marks in this year alone. McLaughlin doesn't even have the #2 all time mark.

I'm all in on Rojas too!
When she fixes her middle phase, there goes 16m!

[18.99s]

??!!
The TWO WRs count for nothing?
The analogy doesn't work because there's only one TdF every year? The Olympics w400H Olympic Final only comes around every 4 (or 5!) years and it's just as much the pinnacle of her sport as the TdF is for its. She gets penalized because there are other, unrelated, events?

The overall AOY is a comparison across various unrelated events. In a comparison among gold medalists of different events, the gold medal isn't a distinguishing factor, so the comparisons have to involve performances outside the Olympics. She's not the only gold medalist of 2021, and her gold medal isn't inherently more important than the gold medals in other individual events.

[Atticus]

The overall AOY is a comparison across various unrelated events. In a comparison among gold medalists of different events, the gold medal isn't a distinguishing factor, so the comparisons have to involve performances outside the Olympics. She's not the only gold medalist of 2021, and her gold medal isn't inherently more important than the gold medals in other individual events.

So where do the two wins against against the defending World-Champion-WR-holder (who ran faster than her start-of-the-year World Record) AND undefeated season against all the best AND the two new World Records factor in?

[aaronk]

Who (Whom??) ever gets AOY, or even gets in the Top 10, we should see 2021 as one of the strongest & deepest seasons in almost every event for the Women!

The sprints, OMG!!
Too many to name!

800!!
WOW!

Distances (except, so far, the Marathon!)
Amazing!!

Hurdles
Again, Incredible!

Vertical jumps--pretty damn strong, even with Morris injured!

Horizontal jumps--
So many early season 7.00+ LJ's!
Rojas!!!

Throws--
SP not the very best, but had some depth at 63 or farther!
DT--Allman VERY underrated compared to names mentioned by everyone!
HT & JT were NOT that good for the Women!

Multi was good, but not that special overall!

I'd definitely put Bol and Allman up there!!

[berkeley]

Agree - I cannot remember a year with as much quality on the womens' side, in so many events. I just can't decide!

On the argument about lack of opportunity for a triple jumper to double up in multiple events - Rojas had a decent long jump mark, but not as good as a Claye, Conley or Banks. Christian Olsson was a 2.28 high jumper and Christian Taylor is a pretty good quarter miler. So, there are opportunities but Rojas doesn't score well there.

[GHM]

1. Siifan Hassan IMO
Did not dodge competition in 1500m.
Did you see how she won her heat of 1500m race in Tokyo? Stud!

2. Thompson-Herah: We were all amazed at her Olympic performances. She did not need a new tec shoes like distance runners for fast times. Quality of her 100-200m is much better than 400mH (Help please here to verify it.)
3. McLaughlin (2 WRs).
4. Rojas (she will get close to 16m next year barring injury)

[ATK]

Rojas had a decent long jump mark, ....So, there are opportunities but Rojas doesn't score well there.

Would love to see her do the Long jump next year more frequently. Her jump of 7.27m (+2.7) is apparently around 7.19m with no wind

[jazzcyclist]

??!!
The TWO WRs count for nothing?
The analogy doesn't work because there's only one TdF every year? The Olympics w400H Olympic Final only comes around every 4 (or 5!) years and it's just as much the pinnacle of her sport as the TdF is for its. She gets penalized because there are other, unrelated, events?

Of course she gets penalized because of other events because those other gold medals are just as valuable as hers and she could have competed in other events if she chose too, if not at the Olympic like Hassan, maybe outside of the Olympics in invitational meets. Also, winning the Tour de France doesn't automatically get you the World's #1 ranking in cycling because it depends on what else you did during the season. I don't think Lance Armstrong ever had a #1 ranking during the years he was winning the Tour because he didn't compete enough outside of the Tour.

[TN1965]

Would love to see her do the Long jump next year more frequently. Her jump of 7.27m (+2.7) is apparently around 7.19m with no wind

She wants to double in Paris.

Olympic triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas aiming for long jump gold at Paris 2024-Sports News , Firstpost

[Wiederganger]

. She gets penalized because there are other, unrelated, events?

She gets penalized because she only ran 3 meets in the 400mh.

Dude come on, that isn't a season! You can't be Athlete of the Year, when your year is 3 meets, not when there are other Olympic gold medalists who did 8, 9, 10, 11 + meets.

Two fantastic WR's or not, it's not enough - for me - to rank her AOY. No way Jose.

[Wiederganger]

It's a close one but I can see the argument for it. The Olympic final was Bol's only loss out of 10 meets. That’s a far better win/loss ratio than Muhammad's. However it's also worth bearing in mind that the Olympic Final was Bol's only time facing McLaughlin, the #1 400m hurdler this year. Facing Muhammad (her next best competitor) only twice isn't great either, but of course the same can be said about Muhammad.

Either way, neither would feature in my top 10.

Tokyo was Bol's only time facing McLaughlin through no fault of her own; that was McLaughlin's decision not to race any big meets and avoid the other top women.
Same with Muhammad.

Bol lost 1 race to McLaughlin & Muhammad.
Muhammad lost 3 races; 2 to McLaughlin, and 1 to Bol, Little & Ryzhykova.
But Muhammad has that silver over Bol's bronze. But that loss in Lausanne to 3 other women is significant IMO, it's not like she finished 2nd to Bol, in which case I would definitely have Muhammad as number 2. But as she only came fourth...I'm thinking that's enough for Bol to squeeze her off number 2.

Yes, I agree, neither are in my top ten for AOY at all.

[Paced]

Tokyo was Bol's only time facing McLaughlin through no fault of her own; that was McLaughlin's decision not to race any big meets and avoid the other top women.
Same with Muhammad.

Bol lost 1 race to McLaughlin & Muhammad.
Muhammad lost 3 races; 2 to McLaughlin, and 1 to Bol, Little & Ryzhykova.
But Muhammad has that silver over Bol's bronze. But that loss in Lausanne to 3 other women is significant IMO, it's not like she finished 2nd to Bol, in which case I would definitely have Muhammad as number 2. But as she only came fourth...I'm thinking that's enough for Bol to squeeze her off number 2.

Yes, I agree, neither are in my top ten for AOY at all.

I agree, Bol did everything right by showing up almost everywhere and getting the win every time bar one. However it is significant that her loss was her only time against the #1, plus she's 1-1 against the next best.

Not her fault but surely it does affect how her season is assessed. She wasn't dodging anyone but her head to head against the other top women is lacking, particularly when you consider how many times the top women in other events battled.

[TN1965]

This is yesterday's news, but is there any other thread where someone mentioned this?

Karsten Warholm and Elaine Thompson-Herah named World Athletes of the Year

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/59496103