T&F's Most Dominant Women In The Last 20 Years

[upchuckserious]

Felix is always over-rated by US media and fans so no surprise here. A fine athlete but her medal tally is over-inflated by relays.

The truth; end of.

[benjastar123]

Are you serious ? 3 golds in individual worlds in the 200 and 1 in olympic 200 and 1 in 400m ..and many silver,bronze and you call that overrated ...Pls get a life ...The fact that she has almost never been in a major final on global level without grabbing a medal (except for london 100m ) says alot .

[bobguild76]

Ayana in the 10k is similar to Bolt early in his career. Only three years, and only a handful of races, but what a three years it has been!

[bobguild76]

Vlasic has often been beaten when it counted.

In term of gap with the rest of the field I would say:
Adams
Wlodarczyk
Kluft
Isinbaeva

Agreed, although I would put Dibaba with them.

[Powell]

Are you serious ? 3 golds in individual worlds in the 200 and 1 in olympic 200 and 1 in 400m ..and many silver,bronze and you call that overrated ...Pls get a life ...The fact that she has almost never been in a major final on global level without grabbing a medal (except for london 100m ) says alot .

But the title of the thread says 'most DOMINANT'. Not best athlete, not the one with most longevity. Silvers and bronzes do not constitute dominance. We're talking about athletes who were a class above their competitors. Felix was never in that category, and citing "many silvers and bronzes" only makes your point weaker.

[benjastar123]

Depends on what you consider a class above ...she won 3 major 200 m and an olympic 200 ...thats a class above .

[Powell]

It's not a class above even in terms of overall record. VCB won 2 Olympic golds and a world title in the same time frame.

[Gabriella2]

and therein lies the crux of the issue. Felix has had a great streak over 200m, with those 3 World golds and Olympic gold, with 2 x Olympic silvers to back that up....but VCB beat her in those two Olympics. Most see the Olympics as the very pinnacle of our sport, and thus one cannot argue that Felix was dominant over her rivals.

Dibaba had a number of rivals to face, in the form of Tulu, Adere, Defar, Abeylegesse, Cheruyiot, Kiplagat...and basically beat them all regularly at the highest level.
Wlodarcyk and Perkovic had less stellar competition, but that does not detract from their dominance.

[donley2]

I feel that Brittney Reese deserves a mention here.

Absolutely!!

[Tuariki]

I feel that Brittney Reese deserves a mention here.

Absolutely!!

I agree, absolutely a mention, but not dominance as per Adams etc; but Absolutely more than Felix as VCB has IMO a more impressive individual record

[Powell]

Reese is clearly one of the most successful championship performers of the current era, but she's never gone through a season without at least a couple of losses. Again, to me that's not dominance - it's being a great championship performer.

[jazzcyclist]

The very existence of Veronica Campbell prevents me from using the word "dominant" to describe Allyson Felix.

[ATK]

Reese is clearly one of the most successful championship performers of the current era, but she's never gone through a season without at least a couple of losses. Again, to me that's not dominance - it's being a great championship performer.

Her seasons always seem to be spotty, but winning every gold medal at world indoors/outdoors and Olympics over the course of 5 years is a level of dominance. Maybe not like Adams, Dibaba or Włodarczyk, but definitely sitting in a spot close behind them compared to other ladies in the conversation.


Random....didn't actually notice she was on the Honorable mention list in the original post!

[Gabriella2]

I guess this is where we get into the debate of what 'dominant' actually means. Championship performer? Golds at championships? Winning streak? Best win-loss record? Fast times/great distances? etc. etc.

If we look at one event, the women's 400m, who would be the most dominant of the last 20 years? So we're talking since 1998, right? Is it Cathy Freeman, who started that time period with World and Olympic gold? Or Williams-Darling, who matched that feat. What about Richards-Ross, who also got a World & Olympic gold, with lots of good times on the circuit to back that up and an Olympic bronze & World silver. But if we're looking at the best championship performer, then we have to say Ohuruogu, who has the best record at Championships, with her Olympic gold and silver and two World golds. But then she lost more races than she won. But no one else in that event matches that in the last 20 years?

And thats it; she's the best championships performer, but not the most dominant. So, some events just don't have a dominant athlete, they may have an athlete who wins gold the most, but that doesn't mean they are the most dominant.

For me, Reese lets herself down with some dreadfully inconsistent seasons, and because she's in a slightly similar situation as Felix, where the same women (Bartoletta) beat her in two Championships in a row, one of them being the Olympics, again, the pinnacle of our sport. (but Felix lost 2/3 to the same woman) But Reese's run of medals from 2009 to 2017 is fantastic. She gets more than an honourable mention, but she isn't quite there with Wlodarcyk, Perkovic & Dibaba. But she's mighty close.

[bobguild76]

I guess this is where we get into the debate of what 'dominant' actually means. Championship performer? Golds at championships? Winning streak? Best win-loss record? Fast times/great distances? etc. etc.

...

For me, Reese lets herself down with some dreadfully inconsistent seasons, and because she's in a slightly similar situation as Felix, where the same women (Bartoletta) beat her in two Championships in a row, one of them being the Olympics, again, the pinnacle of our sport. (but Felix lost 2/3 to the same woman) But Reese's run of medals from 2009 to 2017 is fantastic. She gets more than an honourable mention, but she isn't quite there with Wlodarcyk, Perkovic & Dibaba. But she's mighty close.

Well said!