2022 women's AOY

[lexvid]

In my books, the most dominant athlete of the year deserves the Title AOY. With apologies to Mondo, Rojas, Crouser & perhaps Kipyegon, I believe it belongs to Sydney McLaughlin because:

1. Undefeated in her event.
2. World Champion
3. Multiple WR's in the same season.
3. Multiple WC & Meet records just about every time she raced.


The bar is set impossibly high because their are so many worthy & deserving performers at the top of their game but only SM truly meets this harsh and exacting standard this year. For those of you who say Syd races infrequently then more power to her that she can show up, dominate, and put up ridiculous times that no one else can remotely touch at this moment.

[LuckySpikes]

In my books, the most dominant athlete of the year deserves the Title AOY. With apologies to Mondo, Rojas, Crouser & perhaps Kipyegon, I believe it belongs to Sydney McLaughlin because:

1. Undefeated in her event.
2. World Champion
3. Multiple WR's in the same season.
3. Multiple WC & Meet records just about every time she raced.

The bar is set impossibly high because their are so many worthy & deserving performers at the top of their game but only SM truly meets this harsh and exacting standard this year. For those of you who say Syd races infrequently then more power to her that she can show up, dominate, and put up ridiculous times that no one else can remotely touch at this moment.

Well, that's not true. Duplantis meets all those criteria too.

McLaughlin just doesn't compete enough to be the AOY in my mind.

[Merner521]

Well, that's not true. Duplantis meets all those criteria too.

McLaughlin just doesn't compete enough to be the AOY in my mind.

Well, luckily, Mondo and Syd can both be AOY since I believe TFN keeps M and W honors separate.

I agree that AOY should ideally compete more than 4 times. It's athlete of the year, not athlete of the month.

[JumboElliott]

Easily Sydney McLaughlin. She broke her already strong world record twice and nobody has come close to her. She has completely redefined what is possible in the event and four of the six fastest times in history.

Any discussion of Amusan is bizarre. She has lost multiple finals this season (finished seventh in one) and the world record she set was under absolutely perfect conditions. Look at the number of seasons bests, personal bests, and national records that were set in the semifinal of the women's 100H.

[Vault-emort]

It was always McLaughlin. Thread can be closed now.

[aaronk]

Well, luckily, Mondo and Syd can both be AOY since I believe TFN keeps M and W honors separate.

I agree that AOY should ideally compete more than 4 times. It's athlete of the year, not athlete of the month.

I brought this up on another thread awhile ago, and this is about an EVENT ranking, not AOY!
But in 1974, I believe, Prefontaine ran ONE 10K (or 6 mile?), and that got him ranked 1st in that event!

[Atticus]

Well, luckily, Mondo and Syd can both be AOY since I believe TFN keeps M and W honors separate.
I agree that AOY should ideally compete more than 4 times. It's athlete of the year, not athlete of the month.

Would you feel better about Syd to know she ran 8 times from June 5 to Aug 8, during which she blew away the field in each race (includes rounds, but not her fantastic 4x4 anchor)?

[steveu]

Does Kipyegon have any losses or anything else to diminish her status as an AOY contender? Why, for example, would you consider SAFP over her?

[TN1965]

Does Kipyegon have any losses or anything else to diminish her status as an AOY contender? Why, for example, would you consider SAFP over her?

She lost to Niyonsaba in 3000m. (Doha DL)

[Conor Dary]

I brought this up on another thread awhile ago, and this is about an EVENT ranking, not AOY!
But in 1974, I believe, Prefontaine ran ONE 10K (or 6 mile?), and that got him ranked 1st in that event!

He was ranked 10th that year.

[lexvid]

Well, that's not true. Duplantis meets all those criteria too.

McLaughlin just doesn't compete enough to be the AOY in my mind.

Agree that Duplantis meets the criteria as well.

Ok , now I'm Cheating and going out of bounds now but I would only argue Bubka may have been the equal of Duplantis and has just as many All-time top 10 marks. Syd has 7 out of the top 10 All time and no one is her equal. Of course now we are merely arguing which Greatest Athlete the Event has Ever Seen is AOY. Amazing to have a discussion about Generational Talent like these 2.

[ATK]

Any discussion of Amusan is bizarre....the world record she set was under absolutely perfect conditions. Look at the number of seasons bests, personal bests, and national records that were set in the semifinal of the women's 100H.

Wait wait. So Amusan's WR should be penalized because the people she beat ran amazing behind her?

This is a bizarre argument.

[Awsi Dooger]

It has to be Sydney even if I don't think someone with her schedule should be rewarded. There are criteria in other sports that prevent that type of thing. Maybe give it to Sydney then set up some type of mathematical criteria so it can't happen again. For example, in golf the prestigious Vardon Trophy and Vare Trophy require minimum number of rounds played.

Also it's ironic that Sydney helped her own 2022 cause by comparatively screwing up in 2021. The Tokyo number should have been considerably lower given the buildup and level of competition. I expected 51.1 and it certainly would have been in that range if she hadn't inexplicably chopped to 16 steps on 9. Every time I watch the race it makes less sense that she required 16. She was more than 2 tenths slower from 8 home than she had been at trials a month earlier.

This year would still be awesome with 50.68 but she merely would have broken the record once and none of the pre-Eugene races would have stood out as remarkable. She would have entered 2022 viewed like Rojas as well ahead of her event instead of improperly tagged as best among three near equals.

[79]

1- McLaughlin
2-Amusan
3-Rojas

[DET59]

Women AOY will be between SAFP, Jackson, Mclaughlin and Amusan. The 100 and 200 records are way tougher than the other two records. I don't think it's fair that they should not be considered just because they didn't break the WR.

While I agree with you about the four women (and would add Yulimar), unless WA addresses the existing world records from the 70's/80's and the "elephant in the room" there is no such thing as a "tougher" record, there's only the degree to which a record is broken. All world records are tough. There are no soft records in the standardly run WC events. The degree to which Sydney has lowered the record (and her margins of victory over other all time top 10 performers) puts her above the others. Of course, the seasons not over! Thanks gh for the thread.