The World Athletics Rising Stars finalists

I was planning to publish my Rising Star list somewhat later in the month, closer to the nomination of the athletes of the year. But World Athletics surprised me once more publishing a finalist list for the Rising Star award and thus I felt I had to publish mine. And once that was online I had to comment on the WA choices.

First, let me state clearly that WA and myself do not have the same criteria. Perusing their finalists list it is clear that they limit their Rising Star selection to athletes who are under 20 years old. I find this too restrictive. For me athletes who 20 and 21 are still eligible and in fact my selection for this year, B. Kebinatsipi and F. Cherotich are both 21 years old. World Athletics have been unfair in their choice by ignoring both these athletes in their selection of the year's best and then eliminating them from the Rising Star final on age-related arguments.

At least F. Cherotich won the 2025 Jesse Owens Rising Star Award which honours the best U23 athlete at the Diamond League Final. And, in case you wonder, the Jesse Owens award for the best male went to L. Tebogo.

But let us see who did make the World Athletics list.

Phanuel Koech
Biniam Mehary
Edmund Serem

and 

Birke Haylom
Yan Ziyi
Zhang Jiale

I haven't at all considered Koech, despite his victory in the London Diamond League over 1500 m. Mehary was in my last year's list, but I found his performance in Tokyo underwhelming. He was qualified for the 10000, an event where he had won a Diamond League event this year, and opted to neglect the longer race in favour of the 5000 m. And he went on to finish a disappointing sixth in the shorter race. Serem is part of my Rising Star List, where I wrote that, for me, he is the rebirth of the kenyan steeplechase. I hope he wins the WA title. 

Haylom was out in the heats of the 5000 m in Tokyo, so I did not for a moment considered her for my list. J. Zhang, who won bronze in Tokyo, earned a mention on my list not only for her individual success but also because her medal accounted for 25% of China’s total haul.

The absence of Z. Yan from my lists is not easily explainable, all the more so since I am complaining about the low level of present-day female javelin throwers. Yan with a 65.89 m U20 WR should have been in my list. But, she was not present in Tokyo and somehow she slipped out of my mind. While working on this article, I decided to find out why she was absent from Tokyo. Well, that's due to the crazy WA rule that stipulates that, in order to participate, the athletes must be at least 18 years old. And Yan was still 17 in September. I now hope that she will go on to win the award.

The rising stars of 2025

I don't have a very precise rule concerning the age limit for the athletes I consider for nomination to my Rising Stars list. I definitely include 20-year old athletes but on occasion I may include somewhat older ones. I feel that it is not just the age that counts but also when the athlete starts "blooming". With that said let's move top this years list.

The top male rising star is none other than the world champion of the 400 m, B. Kebinatshipi. He not only won the individual race but he managed to bring the gold relay medal to Botswana in a fabulous finish where he passed R. Benjamin just before the line.

M. Furlani deserves the second place. His world title, although obtained in a year where Tentoglou was far from optimal shape, amply deserves this distinction. He gave proof of a great constancy, jumping beyond 8 m in 14 of his 16 competitions this year.

E. Serem is, for me, the rebirth of the kenyan steeplechase. He has been competing at high level for just two years and he is already world bronze medallist. It goes without saying that I will keep a close eye at him.

There are several young athletes that should be mentioned here. H. Troscianka was the revelation of the World U20 championships. He is a very complete decathlete and by progressing technically he will be among tomorrow's protagonists. J. Tharp was only 6th in the 110 m hurdles final in Tokyo but he had won the US Trials in August barely missing a sub-13 performance. E. Nathaniel finished 4th of the 400 m hurdles final of the World's and his time of 47.11 s could have been better were it not for the hurdle toppled by Benjamin into his lane. G. Gout barely missed the 200 m final in Tokyo. At 18 years of age he is considered by many as the new Bolt. I will definitely follow him over the next years. 

I will wind up my list with two talented athletes who in a sense did not live up to expectations. Still, they are definitely rising stars. C. Lutkenhaus, born in 2008, created the surprise when he qualified for the US team in the 800 m with 1:42.27. (He did not confirm in Tokyo but this is most probably an effect of the US Trials I have written about on several occasions). Q. Wilson is also born in 2008. Last year he did qualify for the US team and participated in the 4x400 m relay in Paris (although his race was, to tell the truth, disastrous). This year he improved the world best performance with 44.10 s but in the US Trials he ran in 45.39 s missing a place in the final. Let's see what these two will do next year.

F. Cherotich is for me the number one female rising star. In Tokyo she added the world title to her bronze olympic and world (2023) medals she already possesses. Her personal best of 8:48.71 is the fourth best performance of all times. She won the Diamond League final, just like she had done last year (and had 4 more victories in the Diamond League meetings). To my eyes she is the heir of the great B. Chepkoech (just like W. Yavi, who is also kenyan but running for Bahrain).

Can you tell who is Tina and who is Tia?

Tina Clayton qualified for the world championships and went on to win silver in the 100 m behind M. Jefferson-Wooden. Her twin sister, Tia, had not qualified for the individual event in the jamaican trials. She tried to obtain a wild card by winning the Diamond League final but was beaten in by J. Alfred and had to contend herself with a place in the 4x100 m relay. I have trouble separating the two sisters: they are both rising stars. (And, try to guess who is Tina and who is Tia by looking at the photo above. Why are people so sloppy?).

A. Topic has already figured in my rising stars list. This time she won her place thanks to her bronze medal obtained in Tokyo after a nail-bitting event. Now, I expect a 2 m jump from her, why not already next year.

S. Moraa and A. Werro finished 4th and 6th of the 800 m. They are worth a mention here, all the more so since Werro is the winner of the Diamond League final while S. Moraa had not run outside Kenya this summer. S. Almayew is probably the Ethiopia's response to Kenya in women's 3000 m steeple. She won the bronze medal in Tokyo dipping under 9 minutes. J. Zhang also won bronze in Tokyo with a 77+ throw in the women's hammer throw. She was one of only four Chinese athletes to win a medal, an impressively low number.

And I will finish the women's list again with two twins, Hana and Amanda Moll who tied for 6th place in the pole vault competition in Tokyo. I have been following them since the US Trials. Hana has a 4.81 m personal best while Amanda's is an impressive 4.91 m. As I wrote above, it will be interesting to see what they will do next year.

All in all it was a great year for Athletics. Usually the year after the Olympics is so-so but 2025 proved to opposite. There are many new talents, many more than the ones who figured in my list, and the coming years will be exciting. (Although I cannot make any prediction about the Ultimate Championship that Lord Sebastian has planned for next year. Will it be a success? I guess we'll have to wait till next year to see what happens). 

The bewildering choices of World Athletics

World Athletics published the list of finalists for the athlete of the year and I must say that I am shocked. I am not surprised to see Noah Lyles in the track athlete selection. For unfathomable reasons, Sir Sebastian considers him the best track athlete, and perhaps the best overall. So, I will not be astonished if, at the end of the month, Lyles is crowned athlete of the year surpassing M. Duplantis.

But while Lyles' selection was, more or less, expected, there are other choices that I find shocking. F. Bol accompanies S. McLaughlin in the track short list. Yes, you read correctly. Not Chebet, not Kipyegon, not Jefferson-Wooden. What is the logic of this? Bol won the world title because McLaughlin opted for the flat race. Pushing Chebet out of the short list is unforgivable. 

In men's field events it's M. Furlani who accompanies Duplantis. What is the rationale behind his selection? He just won the world title. He lost the Diamond League final, and he lost the European indoors. And the European team championships. And he does not have the world leading performance. I guess I have to add him to the list of Lord Sebastian's protégé's (Lyles, Machuchikh, Rojas, and now, probably, Bol and Furlani).

For women's field events my critique is not about persons. N. Olyslagers and T. Davis-Woodhall are 100% worth their selection. My gripe is that none of the two throwers present in the initial list, V. Allman and C. Rogers, was selected (to say nothing of the heptathlete A. Hall). And given the selection for men's track, no thrower at all figures in the finalist's list. (One must go back to 2000 for men and 2014 for women in order to find a thrower nominated athlete of the year. And I have manifested time and again my discontent for the blatant neglect of the great A. Wlodarczyk, who has never received an official distinction from World Athletics). 

Simbu and Sawe were logical choices for the men's out of stadium finalists. (If only J. Kiplimo had succeeded in his bid for a world record in Chicago. He passed in 1:00:16 at mid-point and was ahead of Kiptum's pace at 30 km. But he could not maintain that pace and Sawe will most probably be chosen as year's best). In the women's case the finalists were P. Jepchrichir and M. Perez. Now I must confess that, while I dislike race-walking, I do admire M. Perez. In fact if I had to choose two finalists out of the five World Athletics nominees I would have chosen Perez to accompany Jepchirchir (the latter being clearly my first choice).

When I published my article on the WA nominees, I wrote that I would either update the post or, if it was justified, write a short article with my comments on their choices. Given the level of my irritation when I saw the finalists' list I consider this post amply justified.