so who's the non-Bolt AOY?

[gh]

Tyson Gay won't be ranked No. in his event. And he didn't win a world title. Yet if you remove Bolt from the equation, he'd be the only men's WR setter (equal) this year. And he put together one of the best sequences of 100 times ever seen, with 10 sub-10s, including wind (Bolt has 9, had 10 last year):

9.69, 9.71, 9.75w, 9.77, 9.79w, 9.88, 9.88, 9.93, 9.96, 9.98

Does that mean that he (with a 19.58 as well) has a legitimate shot at No. 2, ahead of all those who will rank No. 1 in their event and/or have a Berlin gold?

Discuss.

[mump boy]

no

[gh]

did it take you long to come up with that detailed analysis? :-)

[richxx87]

Bekele could make a good case. Undefeated, double gold at WCs, and has the WL in 5 and 10, in addition to being a couple milliseconds from the 3k WL. And that's with or without Bolt.

Gay would, of course, have similar accolades, and in this hypothetical Non-Bolt world, his marks on the all-time list would rank higher than KB's.

Cantwell had a good season.

LaShawn Merritt was a double World Champ and undefeated, however, like Cantwell, his marks aren't close to WR.

[gh]

in T&FN voting, Merritt is a single gold medalist... relays don't count.

[TrackDaddy]

Merritt's undefeated season and WC gold should carry a lot of weight.

After all winning is the biggest part of what its all about.

And from that consideration he matched Bolt albiet only in one event versus two.

[richxx87]

Gay's SBs vis-à-vis the IAAF scoring tables:
100 = 1332
200 = 1293
400= 1145
----------------------
AVG = 1257


Bekele's SBs vis-à-vis the IAAF scoring tables:
3k = 1248
5k = 1238
10k = 1249
------------------------------
AVG. = 1245


So, in a Non-Bolt milieu, Gay would take it.

[bman]

Merritt's undefeated season and WC gold should carry a lot of weight.

After all winning is the biggest part of what its all about.

And from that consideration he matched Bolt albiet only in one event versus two.

He is a worthy champion, but not a worthy champion of champions.

[Daisy]

Got to be between Gay and Bekele. Very tough call but i think Bekele gets the nod. Didn't Gay lose to Powell? And Bekele got that double at the worlds.

[Pelpa]

Merritt's undefeated season and WC gold should carry a lot of weight.

After all winning is the biggest part of what its all about.

And from that consideration he matched Bolt albiet only in one event versus two.

This is just a bad time in history to be Tyson Gay (9.71, 9.69, 9.77, 19.58). I would have wanted to give him the non-Bolt award, but no gold silverware (yeah I know, I scripted it that way deliberately). So, in that case I will lust have to go with you. Dwight Phillips for 2nd for a wicked come back!!

But I guess Gay could get the non-Bolt performance of the year.

[Pelpa]

Next thing I would throw in:

Even with Jeter's late season heroics, I would still say the men had a better year than the women. I would say the best male performers and performances were better (collectively) than the the females'. So that's my reason for Merrit, Phillips, Gay.

[doug091463]

i think tyson gay should be AOY if bolt did not run this year, and i would put him runner up for AOY even with bolt, my guess though is it will be
1. bolt
2. k. bekele
3. maybe 1 or 2 more and then tyson gay

my picks for AOY is
1. bolt
2. gay
3. k. bekele

take my picks with a grain of salt though as i do not follow some of the field events.

[gh]

Gay's SBs vis-à-vis the IAAF scoring tables:
100 = 1332
200 = 1293
400= 1145
----------------------
AVG = 1257


Bekele's SBs vis-à-vis the IAAF scoring tables:
3k = 1248
5k = 1238
10k = 1249
------------------------------
AVG. = 1245


So, in a Non-Bolt milieu, Gay would take it.

In a cross-platform sense, IAAF tables are useless. Or if that's too harsh, virtually useless.

[t_monk]

I really think Bekele would have gotten it. Bekele is downright dominant in his event with no equals whatsoever. Unless Gay had completed the double (as I think he might have done if Bolt wasn't running), I would give the nod o Bekele

[odelltrclan]

Bekele's year was astounding. This guy did a 5k & 10k WC double a year after the OG double AND completed a GL sweep in a distance event for crying out loud. He runs fast. He wins from the front, he wins playing cat and mouse. He wins period. Undefeated.

Gay has some good marks, but track is more than good marks.

Bekele by a landslide!