Who will be the female athlete of the year?

[Awsi Dooger]

I would have had Kipyegon first followed by Thompson-Herah. Kipyegon remains the most ridiculously underrated athlete I have seen in a half century following this sport. She routinely takes the best shot from other greats like Dibaba and Hassan then methodically wears them down. Hassan is so intimidated by Kipyegon that she totally alters her racing style against against Kipyegon and no one else. You can put world record holders like Gidey out there and Hassan doesn't care at all. Only Kipyegon is in her head.

That type of thing is worth a heck of a lot more to me than some jumper or thrower who is simply better than anyone else. And same dynamic with Thompson-Herah. How soon we forget that Fraser-Pryce was being touted as certainty in Tokyo accompanied by career comparisons to Bolt. Thompson-Herah wiped all of that out by daylight. The stunned deflated look on Fraser-Pryce's face was just like Hassan after dealing with Kipyegon.

[Per Andersen]

Warholm? Crouser?
Both deserving.
Congrats Warholm

Yes, and + Mondo but I was sure happy they picked Warholm. 2 WRs in one season in the 400H!
I definitely liked Elaine Herah-Thompson on the Women side. Agree with 1.609's reasons.

[1.609]

We all have our varying points of view. For me, Elaine Thompson-Herah ran the best time ever in the event with the toughest world record. And backed it up more than adequately.
A woman who comes within 0.05 of what Flojo ran in Indy with a legal wind is doing the equivalent of a 52 foot triple jump or a 28:30 10k.

Edit: I didn't know the results when I posted this.

[Tuariki]

Warholm? Crouser?
Both deserving.
Congrats Warholm

[ATK]

Warholm and ETH are not surprising picks from World Athletics. Warholm with probably the performance of the year (past 10+ years?) and ETH winning the glamour double and amazing previously unthinkable season. Both very very deserving, but I think the consensus here seemed to be Crouser and Rojas.

Warholm didnt compete enough compared to Crouser (even understanding the different events) and Rojas was undefeated with a WR and upended the entire top 10 list (plus ancillary jumps lists).

[Tuariki]

Any one of ETH, SH, SM, YJ, would have been a deserving winner.
Congrats to ETH.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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

[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)

[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.