And how about the World Athletics Rising Stars?

In my previous post I revisited the list of European Athletics Rising Stars in order to find whether they had all risen to the initial expectations. (They hadn't, I mean, not all of them. But most did, and some of them did become the great champions of today). While the list of top European young athletes goes back to 2007, that of World Athletics starts already at 1998. 

There was no female rising star on the very first year, no award at all in 1999 and 2004 (I wonder why), while from 2005 to 2008 included there were two male and two female athletes covering the four years. And of course there was no award during the epidemic-ridden 2020. Most names in the list are those of (at the time, future) world or olympic champions but some did not immediately ring a bell and I had to look them up. This post is essentially about them.

The first athlete I had to look up was Hamdan Al-Bishi. I vaguely remember a saudi 400 m runner several years back but without further details. Al-Bishi ran his personal best, 44.66 s, in 2000, when he was 19 years old. He finished 5th in the 2005 World Championships and went on to win the Asian Games in 2002 and 2006. He was second in the Asian Championships of 2000, 2002 and 2003. He ran up to 2009 but did not manage to improve his 2000 time.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, was the 2005 Rising Star. I included in this post because he is still active despite his 37 years of age. And not only that but just three years back, in 2022, he was on the european podium with the UK 4x100 relay; just as he had done in 2014 and 2018. Aryeetey has also a World Relay title from 2009 and an individual European bronze, over 100 m, from 2014. He is a very nice example of sprinter longevity.

When I saw the name of Margus Hunt with the Estonian flag next to him I thought, well, probably another of those estonian decathletes. Well I was wrong. Hunt was a discus thrower. To tell the truth, I had never heard of him (or at least, not to my memory). He had a brief career in athletics, the Rising Star award being due to the fact that he won both the shot put and the discus throw at the 2006 world junior championship. He threw up to 2010 with a personal best of 61.33 m at the discus. He started playing American Football professionally in 2013 and disappeared from Athletics.

In 2007 and 2008 there are no male rising stars. The two female ones are Ruth Bosibori-Nyangau and Pamela Jelimo. Ruth Bosibori exploded upon the international scene in 2007 winning the 3000 m steeplechase at the African Games and finishing 4th over the same event at the World Championships. She was bronze medalist in 2008 and finished 5th at the Olympics. But while she ran up to 2017 she never repeated the success of the first years. Pamela Jelimo's career was even shorter than that of Bosibori but one with more splendour. She won gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 800 m at just 18 years of age. The same year she won the African title and, with a personal best of 1:54.01 moved to third place in the all-time list. She won the world indoor title in 2012 but, due the presence of DSD Caster Semenya and doping offenders Savinova and Guliyeva, Jelimo found herself at 4th place. Savinova and Guliyeva has been stripped of their medals but unfortunately Semenya is keeping hers. In the end of the story Jelimo was just a shooting star in the firmament of athletics her last (very low key) race being in 2014. 

I really love this photo. The arms behind Jelimo are those of the reigning 2007 world champion, Janeth Jepkosgei who finished second in Beijing. Jepkosgei went on to win silver in the 2009 and 2011 World's but, since she lost to Semenya, she is to my eyes the world champion. She ran up to 2015 and, amazingly, she was back to athletics in 2023 competing over a 400 m. 

In 2010 Till Wöschler and Angelica Bengtsson were the Rising Stars. I have followed Bengtsson through her whole career and I will never forget the mishap at the 2019 World's when her pole broke at her third attempt at 4.80 m and she re-tried using a pole borrowed from Guillon-Romarin. And passed. 

But Wöschler was nigh unknown to me. He was one more promising javelin thrower, fruit of the great german javelin tradition. Unfortunately his personal best of 84.38 m was registered when he was just 20 years old and he put an end to his career in 2016. (While I am writing these lines I cannot help thinking of the great Johannes Vetter who may never come back to his 90+ level. What a pity! We have several excellent 90+ throwers but the only solid hope for a 100+ throw was Vetter). 

From 2011 onwards the Rising Stars are still active and in some cases, like Morgan Lake and Candace Hill, who haven't yet risen to real prominence, I think that they have a few good years ahead of them and may fulfil the promises. (In fact, I wonder why Morgan Lake does not devote herself more seriously to the pentathlon, following T. Hellebaut's example. But, at least, she managed to join the 2 m club in 2025, so she can be optimistic about the future).

The last case I would like to visit is that of Mary Cain, 2013 female Rising Star (another year without a male counterpart). The story of Cain is a sad one. In 2013 she was, at 17 years old, the youngest athlete selected for the US team. She participated in the 1500 m of the World Championships and she made it to the final. She joined the Nike Oregon project, training under the direction of Alberto Salazar. And then all the trouble started. She hadn't been able to improve her 2013 personal best, 4:04.62, over 1500 m. She ran up to 2016 in constant decline. And in 2019, in an interview, she explained that the training regimen imposed by Salazar combined with an emotional abuse led to her physical and psychological degradation. In 2021 Cain filled a lawsuit against Salazar and Nike (which was settled financially out of court). Salazar was condemned in 2015 for doping offences and in 2021 was banned for life from coaching for emotional and sexual misconduct. And Mary Cain in all this? Well, she is, in principle, back on track, switched her allegiance to Ireland but, although eligible to compete, she hasn't participated yet in an official race under her new colours. As time goes by, one fears that she is one more promise not kept.

Where are the European Rising Stars?

Two years ago I wrote an article entitled "Where are the talents of yesteryear?". It was based on a photo of the finish of the men's 1500 m at the 2016 World U20 Championships. (If you wish to have more details you can follow the link and read that article). The present one has a somewhat different motivation.

I really like this photo of young Nafi Thiam, a lot

As you know at the end of each year World and European Athletics nominate the best athletes of the year and there is a special category concerning the rising stars, i.e. young and promising athletes who have distinguished themselves during the year. And while I was perusing the list of past winners I started thinking about what happened to each of them. Did they keep the promise that the award was implying? I decided to find out. Below is the list of the European Athletics Rising Stars since 2007. (In a future post I will go through the list of the World Athletics Rising Stars).

So, let us go through the list together. The first name that gave me pause was Raphael Holzdeppe. I remembered his victory in Moscow, at the 2013 World's, where he dominated the event, beating Lavillenie (on count-back) for gold. (That came after a bronze at the 2012 Olympics and was followed by a silver in the 2015 World's). Holzdeppe was the first black athlete to win a major title in pole vault. And what is amazing is that he is still active, at 35 years of age, having jumped 5.55 m in 2024. Stephanie Twell was the female rising star of the same year, 2008. I was not remembering her at all. She won a bronze medal over 1500 m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a bronze over 5000 m at the 2016 Europeans. And while her track career more or less ended in 2018 she is now devoting herself to "out of stadium" races, running a respectable 1:12:00 at the semi-Marathon in 2024. I did not remember Jodie Williams either (which is a shame since she was on the olympic podium in 2024 with the UK 4x400 relay). Her only individual medal is a European silver in 200 m going back to 2014. 

Emir Bekric was a serbian low-hurdler who won a bronze medal at the 2013 World's, the same year he was nominated Rising Star (and won gold at the Mediterranean Games of the same year). He had won a silver medal the previous year at the European Championships. Unfortunately his career was short-lived: he quit after 2019 never reaching the level of 2013. Aníta Hinriksdóttir was the female rising star of the same year. I remember her very well, since it is rather rare to have top quality athletes from such a small country as Iceland. However I was under the impression that she had ended her career (which boasts a European bronze over 800 m from the 2017 indoors) a few years back. Well, I was wrong. She is still active, running also the 1500 m and, what is surprising, she participated in a 2000 m steeplechase in 2024.

For those who hesitate when reading the winner of the 2014 award Mariya Kuchina, let me remind you that she none other than the great Mariya Lasitskene, who is kept far from the stadia due to the narrow-mindedness of Lord Sebastian.

The year 2015 is interesting. K. Bukowiecki has a personal best in shot put of 22.25 m (from 2019). He was European indoor champion in 2017 and (outdoor) silver medalist in 2018. Since that time he failed to obtain a major distinction (the fact that he is the husband of Natalia Kaczmarek does not count). (And he was involved in some doping-related scandal in 2016 but came out scot-free with just a public reprimand). N. Zbären was a swiss high-hurdler who had distinguished herself as a junior. But repeated injuries hampered her career and while she did come back she never reached her previous level putting and end to her activities in 2022.

The two last names that captured my attention were the female winners of 2017 and 2018: Yulia Levchenko and Elvira Herman (now Hrabarenka). Herman was the surprise European champion of 2018 in the 100 m hurdles. She confirmed her status with a bronze in the 2019 European indoors. And while she is always running at very high level, she is kept out from international competition due to the decision of the president of World Athletics to penalise bielorussian athletes.

Y. Levchenko at the 2019 World's (where she finished 4th, despite jumping 2 m)

I left Yulia Levchenko for last. I still remember the fabulous high jump event during the London 2017 World Championships. When Lasitskene missed her first attempt at 1.99 m, Levchenko took the lead of the event. But then missing once at 2.01 m, she had to relinquish it and the more experienced Lasitskene finally won with 2.03 m. I was expecting a bright future for Levchenko who won a silver at the 2019 European indoors but she went on to have what, to my eyes at least, is a disappointing career. She jumped 2.02 m in 2019 and again 2.00 m in 2020 but after that her performances are way below par. She did not manage to qualify for the final neither in the Rome Europeans nor in the Paris Olympics. In fact in the latter she no-heighted at 1.83 m (!).  

I wrote this article quite some time ago. And I was finishing the paragraph on Levchenko with the sentences, But, still, every time I see her compete I have a feeling of a career that went astray. Let's hope she manages to get back on her feet before it is too late. And then, in 2025, we witnessed a rebirth of this great athlete. She had several competitions over 1.90 m culminating with 1.98 m in June (that helped forget the 1.83 m flop in Paris just four days before that). And at the end of August, participating in the Diamond League final, she jumped again 2 m in Zürich. In Tokyo she jumped 1.97 m, and just missed a medal on count-back. Yulia Levchenko is definitely back.

To return to the point that motivated this article, it is my impression that while there have been some misses with some Rising Stars not becoming global stars, the choices of European athletics were amply justified by the results.

The World Athletes of the year 2025

World Athletics published the list of the year's best athletes. They are no fewer than 10 when one includes the Rising Stars. 

My fears concerning. a last minute nomination of Lyles did not materialise. In fact, Lyles was not even nominated as best track male athlete, the title going to E. Wanyonyi who was also my favourite for this honour. In the end Duplantis and McLaughlin-Levrone were chosen for the Athlete of the Year title, a choice that I totally approve.

With hindsight, one can understand the nomination of Bol and Furlany as finalists along Duplantis and McLaughlin: they were safe choices who under no account were going to steal the spotlight from the two protagonists. Still, I think that leaving Chebet out of the finalists list was a blatant injustice.

N. Olyslagers was chosen as best woman track athlete and choice that is OK by me (but T. Davis-Woodhall would have been an equally good choice). Quite predictably, S. Sawe was nominated for best male out of stadium athlete but for his female counterpart it was M. Perez who was chosen and not P. Jepchirchir, who was my choice. But as I was pointing out in a previous post of mine, much as I dislike race-walking, I do admire M. Perez. So, I am not shocked by her nomination.

The male Rising Star was E. Serem. For me that was a non-brainer. As I have pointed out more than once, his arrival may signal the rebirth of kenyan steeplechase. Where I don't agree with WA's choice is in the nomination of J. Zhang as female Rising Star. Certainly she established a U20 world record and got a bronze medal in the World's but for me the title should have gone to Z. Yan who could not participate in Tokyo due to the WA restrictive rules.

Being a Rising Star is a promise for the future. I am rather confident about the future of this year's rising stars (barring injuries, of course). However it would be interesting to see what became of the rising stars of past decades. I will perhaps do some digging and come back to this in some future post of mine.

The World Athletics Awards choices (some good, some less so)

Just before the Athlete of the year nomination, World Athletic announced several awards. (I have trouble understanding the Federation and the Woman of the Year ones. They sound 100% political to me and I prefer not to comment on them).

The Fair Play award went to T. Van de Welde, who helped his injured colleague C. San Martin to the finish line in the Tokyo World Championships 3000 m steeplechase heats. M. Karalis was also among the nominated, for his enthusiastic encouragement of his fellow athletes, despite the fact that they are in direct competition with him. Of course I would have liked to see Manolo win the award, but all in all, Van de Welde was totally worth it.

The Coaching Achievement award went to M. O'Connor who has been coaching his daughter Kate, leading her to the world podium this year. A double one, since she was silver medalist both indoors and outdoors this year. And she won the heptathlon in the World University Games. (She was silver medalist in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and she will be the number one favourite during the 2026 Games). I believe that O'Connor's choice was really optimal. Managing one's child over a whole career and lead her to excellence is a very arduous task. (Lord Sebastian, who has been coached by his father, knows something about that). K. O'Connor is among the athletes I will be following in the next years (all the more so, since, if N. Thiam retires, the combined event crown will be up for grabs). 

Where I diverge from the WA choices is when it comes to the photo of the year. A somewhat artistic photo was chosen which, with all due respect to the photograph, I find uninteresting. I let you visit the WA site to see for yourself. 

I don't understand this choice, since there were plenty of photos, shortlisted for the Digital Exhibition, who convey really the atmosphere of the competition. There is this photo of Lyles, where one may think that he just knocked-out Seville, who beat him in the 100 m final.

The last water jump in the women's 3000 m steeple was also a pure drama. N. Jeruto, third up to that moment, fell, D. Lemngole who was following her tripped over her, leaving the way free for S. Almayew to go and fetch the bronze medal. And, in fact, both Jeruto and Lemngole conceded also the fourth place to M. Bouzayani, who is visible in the frame.

But the photo I would have chosen for the award is the one of A. Topic, sheltering from the rain under the umbrella of E. Patterson. One can see all the anxiety in her eyes, while she waits for the last attempts of Y. Mahuchikh, that will decide if she obtains a medal or not.

I had to rush to publish this post and so the one of the major awards, that of the Athlete(s) of the Year and of the Rising Stars will have to wait for the next post.

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.

The World Athletics Athlete of the Year nominees

Since 2023 World Athletics has changed their year's best athlete classification introducing separate lists for track, field and road (what they call "out of stadium"). And last year they went back and introduced also an overall year's best. This year they kept the three specialties classification, but the nominees' list was globally parred down from 6+6 ro 5+5. This lead to a lopsided list in the case of men's field list with four jumpers and just one thrower. (But more on this later).

Here is the official list of nominees for 2025:

Track

Femke Bol
Beatrice Chebet
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden
Faith Kipyegon
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

Rai Benjamin
Jimmy Gressier
Noah Lyles
Cordell Tinch,
Emmanuel Wanyonyi

All female champions figure in my list. In the case of men I haven't included Benjamin (but his name would have been the next I would have included) and Lyles (of whom I don't appreciate the attitude).

Field 

Valarie Allman
Tara Davis-Woodhall
Anna Hall
Nicola Olyslagers
Camryn Rogers

Mondo Duplantis
Mattia Furlani
Ethan Katzberg
Hamish Kerr
Pedro Pichardo

Again all women were part of my list. In the case of men I did not include Furlani (although he is a great athlete I don't think he was dominating). For Kerr and Pichardo, see my remark on Lyles.

There is a blatant absence for this list, that of R. Crouser. He is the athlete who dominates the men's shot put for the last five years (at least). His come-back from injury to win the world title was a unique feat. Leaving him out of the nominees is, to say the least, unfair. He should have been included in the nominees list (to the detriment of one of the jumpers).

Out of Stadium

Tigst Assefa
Sifan Hassan
Peres Jepchirchir
Agnes Ngetich
Maria Perez

Caio Bonfim
Evan Dunfee
Yomif Kejelcha
Sabastian Sawe
Alphonce Simbu

Here I must admit that I have a weakness. I don't follow the "out of stadium" events closely enough so as to have a clear view of what is happening. Only P. Jepchirchir is mentioned in my year's best list (and S. Sawe gets a mention just to fill a gap).

Once World Athletics publishes the shortlist of selected athletes I will either update this list or, if it is justified, write a short article with my comments on their choices.

The year's best athletes

Once more it's the time where we must make the balance sheet of the year, and decide which athletes have been outstanding in their performances. It goes without saying that the list I will present is 100% subjective. It corresponds to my preferences for certain athletes and the fact that there some others that I cannot stand. (But, then, I don't think that any "best of" list can ever be 100% objective) 

The year 2025 has been particularly rich due to the presence of the World Championships that focused the efforts of all the athletes who could hope to obtain a qualification for Tokyo, and for the best of them, to shine there.

Let us start with the queens of Athletics. Just as in 2024 I could not decide between the two best female athlete. And, what is more, one of them was my choice for best athlete for 2021, 2022, and 2024 already. But I cannot help it. I am convinced that S. McLaughlin(-Levrone) is the best athlete out there. 

But, just like last year, I could not really claim that this year she was better that B. Chebet. Both are great and for me, they share the top position on my year's best podium. S. McLaughlin ran the second best ever 400 m with 47.78 s. B. Chebet was the first woman to break the 14 minute barrier in the 5000 m. Both won two gold medals in the World Championships.

Faith Kipyegon was co-number one last year. She broke the 1500 m world record with 3:48.68 this year and won the same event in Tokyo. However she was beaten by Chebet in the 5000 m final and thus, in my list, she has to content herself with second place. 

I reserved the third place for the new combined events star, A. Hall. She broke the 7000 points barrier in June, tying, with 7032 points, the performance of K. Kluft, which, as I have explained, should have been the world record. And, on top of this, she improved the looong-standing heptathlon 800 m record with 2:01.23. (And to cap it all, she is an accomplished low-hurdler with a 54.42 s personal best).

P. Jepchrichir has an almost unique place among female marathoners having won both the olympic (2021) and world (2025) titles. She joins the great R. Mota in this select list, but unlike Mota, who won her titles in two consecutive years, 1987 and 88 (just like the male champions , G. Abera, 2000 and 01, and S. Kiprotich, 2012 and 13), Jepchrichir won the second title 4 years after the first, a proof of athletic longevity.

M. Jefferson-Wooden went home from Tokyo with 3 gold medals. With 10.61 s she is 4th in the all-time best list for 100 m. With 21.68 s in the 200 m she is 7th in front of A. Felix and just behind the great M. Ottey. And when you count her relay titles from 2022 and 2023, MJW has, at 24, five world titles already. 

The world discus title was what was V. Allman was missing. Despite having won the olympic title twice, in 2021 and 2024, she had to wait till 2025 in order to become world champion. Add to this the fact that, with her 73.52 m throw from April, she sits in the 6th position of the all-time list, accompanying throwers from the pre-doping-control era, and you can see why she is topping my list of field champions.

C. Rogers is the other great thrower who is making my top list. Her last defeat in major competition (world or olympic) goes back to 2022. Since then she amassed one olympic and two world titles. Her winning throw of 80.51 m in Tokyo, places her second to the great A. Wlodarczyk in the all-time hammer lists.

T. Davis-Woodhall is, step by step, becoming the number one female long jumper. She was second behind I. Spanovic in Budapest but since then she has garnered two world (indoor in 2024 and outdoor this year) and an olympic (last year) titles. Moreover she is regularly jumping over 7 m since 2021.

The other jumper I would like to include in my list is N. Olyslagers. A 2 m high-jumper since 2021 she has been contenting herself with places on the podium (twice silver in the Olympics, bronze in 2023 World's) but 2025 was to be her year. She won the Diamond League final with 2.04 m and went on to win the world title in Tokyo, adding the outdoor title to the two indoor ones she had won in 2024 and earlier this year.

I cannot move on to the men's list without mentioning two more great athletes who have been somewhat eclipsed by the achievements of the preceding stars. M. Paulino lost the 400 m title to S. McLaughlin. However her 47.98 s performance puts her third in the all-time list and ahead of J. Kratoshvilova who, with 47.99 s held the championships record from 1983. The second is F. Bol who won her second world title in the 400 m hurdles. Her time in 51.54 s is better than the time with which D. Muhammad won silver in the Tokyo Olympics, and Bol has a 50.95 s personal best placing her behind only McLaughlin. But still Bol has never beaten McLaughlin in a direct head-to-head race. To tell the truth, the decision to include her in my list was a last-minute one, spurred by Bol's intrepid decision to move to the 800 m from next year. I do like athletes who do not hesitate to take on a challenge. 

The men's crown goes, once more to A. Duplantis. He has been number-one in my list of year's best in 2020 and 2022-23-24 and is topping the list once more this year. He took the world record at 6.16 m and over the years he lifted it to 6.30 m. Fortunately, thanks to the presence of E. Karalis, he is not the only pole vaulter to jump regularly over 6 m. But the truth is, he is a class of his own. Somehow I am tempted to put him above the list and to attribute him not simply gold but, let's say, diamond so that I have place for one of more "first".  

And for the year's best I chose two throwers who excelled in Tokyo. R. Crouser is the best shot putter ever. He has three world and three olympic titles. He holds the world record with 23.56 m. And this year, nursing an injury, he managed to win once more the world title. 

E. Katzberg is 10 years younger than Crouser, at 23, an infant by hammer throw standards. And, still, he has already two World and one Olympic titles. His 84.70 m throw in Tokyo places him 5th in the all time list, but if we count only post-doping-control athletes he is second only to K. Murofushi.

E. Wanyonyi was my rising star last year when he won the 800 m in the Olympics. He could have kept that position this year but I preferred to move him to the podium of the "grown-ups". His race in Tokyo showed that he is not only a great runner but a fine tactician as well. If anybody can go for the 1:40 barrier, that's Wanyonyi.

I reserved the final place on the podium to L. Neugebauer. Everybody expected him to win the olympic title last year but he had to settle for silver. His decathlon victory this year came after a hard fight with A. Owens-Delerme, where the latter had a serious chance at winning. But Neugebauer resisted and kept a small margin sufficient for gold. If he manages to streamline a decathlon in a more relaxed competition he is capable to go for Mayer's world record.

Having mentioned a french champion I do not hesitate to reserve the next position in my list to the french revelation in Tokyo, J. Gressier. He ran two very clever races, winning one and obtaining bronze in the other. And he was the winner of the Diamond League final over 3000 m. 

A jamaican spinter, O. Seville, occupies the next place. I would have added also K. Thompson, since the two won the first two places in the 100 m depriving N. Lyles of gold. But the elimination of the jamaican 4x100 m was, to my eyes, due to a mistake of K. Thompson, who started too early, making it impossible to R. Forde to catch him, so it's only Seville who enters the top list.

C. Tinch dominated the 110 m hurdles. He is the world leader with 12.87 s. He did not make the final two years ago in Budapest and was not qualified last year for Paris. But 2025 was his year. He won all five Diamond League meetings in which he took part as well as the final, running five times under 13 seconds. (And he is a 8 m+ long jumper).

The final place in my list goes to a veteran of the javelin K. Walcott. We discovered him in 2012 when, after having won the World U20 championships, went to London and won the Olympic title. That was a major surprise and was waved away by many as a "lucky win". But four years later he was again on the podium, winning bronze in Rio. With 90.16 m personal best he is part of the exclusive club of 90-plusers. In Tokyo he prevailed in a final where 6 participants had better personal bests that him. He really deserves his place in the top list.

World Athletics introduced last year a new classification for the year's best athletes distinguishing track, field and, what they call, "out of stadium" best. In the case of women, given my list, the three winners would have been McLaughlin/Chebet, Hall and Jepchrichir. For men that would be Wanyonyi, Duplantis while for road events I hesitate between S. Sawe, who won in London and Berlin, and J. Kiplimo who won in Chicago, with a slight preference for the first. (Had Kiplimo managed to break the world record as he planned he would have been indisputably the number-one out of stadium runner). 

Track events at the Tokyo World's

Once the Championships were over I asked myself what was the most impressive achievement we witnessed. My immediate answer was the women's 400 m race. It's true, it was a fabulous race (and I will talk about it later). But, after some thoughtful consideration, I had to admit that the most extraordinary accomplishment was the Kenyan women winning all middle- and long-distance events, from the 800 m to the Marathon, including the 3000 m steeple. Some are big stars like Kipyegon, Chebet and Jepchirchir. Others are up-and-coming like Cherotich. And some, like Odira, were mainly unknown before Tokyo. But, let's start at the beginning. 

M. Jefferson-Wooden dominated women's sprint, garnering three gold medals (including that of the relay). Her 10.61 s in the 100 m is a championships record and the 4th best performance of all time. Only Tina Clayton could follow her, part of the way, finishing second with 10.76. Those who were expecting a duel between Jefferson and Alfred were disappointed as the latter could do no better than third (and then was out of the 200 m due to a recurring injury).  S. Jackson was fourth, S. Richardson fifth and S. Fraser-Price, on her last appearance, did make the final, finishing 6th, just ahead of TaLou, who, once more missed a major rendezvous. Just before the 200 m final, as I was watching the athletes taking their place, I had a premonition that A. Hunt would make it to the medals. She had been pushed out of the 100 m final by her team-mate D. Asher-Smith but she had easily won her place in the 200 m. In the end, she claimed silver behind Jefferson-Wooden, who won in a world-leading 21.68 s, but ahead of S. Jackson. Hunt ran a 22.08 s personal best in the semis. It's a pleasure to see her come back after so many years: she had ran a world U-18 record in 2019 but injuries (and focusing on her studies in Cambridge) had set her back. But after Tokyo she can be  "... an academic bad**s and a track goddess" (in her own words).

Mr. Lyles will not go home with three gold medals. The jamaican sprinters, O. Seville and K. Thompson took care of that, in the 100 m final, won by the former in 9.77, the second clocking 9.82 s. Lyles has the consolation of winning the 200 m, and beating the one who dared challenge him, K. Bednarek, 19.52 to 19.58 s. And L. Tebogo? Well he was disqualified for false-start in the 100 m and could do no better than 4th in the 200 m. (Fortunately, as we will see, he did not go home medal-less). The 200 m was an occasion to see the new talent, G. Gout, competing in a major event. I will keep an eye open for him.

The men's 400 m was a beauty. The presence of three botswanan runners in the final showed their cards concerning the 4x400 m relay. World leaders Z. Nene and J. Patterson finished at 5th and 7th place respectively. Finally there were two botswanan athletes on the podium, a revelation in the person of B. Kebinatsipi, who ran a world lead of 43.53 s and B. Ndori who was third with 44.20 s. They were separated by an amazing J. Richards (I always thought of him as a 200 m specialist) who battled with Kebinatsipi to the finish line, improving his personal best to 43.72 s.

If the men's race was a beauty, what can one say for the women's one? Never before have we seen a 400 m of such quality. Going to Tokyo we had three athletes with performances under 49 seconds and two of them, Naser and Paulino, were on the all-time-best list, third and fourth respectively. S. McLaughlin did not have a comparable personal best, but given her huge talent (and the fact that she had already anchored a US relay in under 48 seconds) put her on par with the other two. The semi-final saw the elimination of S. Williams, L. Klaver and M. Weil (who has enormously progressed this year and was left out of the final despite her excellent 49.88 s). McLaughlin announced her intentions by running a US record (and world lead) of 48.29 s. When the final started there were eyes only for the leading trio. In the end McLaughlin won ahead of Paulino, 47.78 and 47.98 s which are the 2nd and 3rd best times in history. M. Koch's record trembled but did not fall this time. One thing is though clear, McLaughlin can do better than 47.60 s and if(when) she does it, it will be the first time in Athletics history (for men or women) that somebody holds the world record in both the hurdles and the flat 400 m.

Women's 800 m started with world indoor champion P. Seckgodiso dropping out of the heats due to injury while the silver medalist N. Getachew finished last in her heat. World U20 S. Moraa was jostled and finished outside the qualifying places but was reinstated. J. Hull (we don't see her often in a 800 m) was pushed and fell but was allowed a place in the semifinal. Both justified their inclusion in the semis, with Hull registering an area record with 1:57.15 and Moraa challenging K. Hodgkinson. The latter was the favourite, since her races in August showed that she had recovered from her injury. However coming into the final stretch she could not resist the attack of L. Odira and in the end she could not fight the come-back to G. Hunter-Bell either. Odira won in 1:54.62, the two british runners finishing in 1:54.90 and 1:54.91 respectively. S. Moraa was fourth and A. Werro, who had recently won the Diamond League final, could do no better than 6th. 

In the men's final the favourites were present (but D. Brazier did not make it beyond the semis, certainly another US Trials effect). The race was held on the last day of the championships and E. Wanyonyi had seen the disaster of the other races that were run in slow paces. So, he took command from the outset, ran a very fast race and won in 1:41.85, ahead of Dj. Sedjati 1:41.90 and M. Arop 1:41.95. Seventeen years old C. Lutkenhaus, who had surprised everybody with his 1:42.27 at the Trials and made the US team, ran in 1:47.68 and was eliminated in the heats.

The men's 10000 m proceeded at a stately pace (over 3 min per km at the beginning). So it was not astonishing that a full dozen of runners entered the final stretch together and the race favoured the best sprinters. In the end it was J. Gressier who won (in 28:55.77, almost 1 minute more than the time of A. Cova who won in 1983). I am following Gressier since the beginning of his career. Having seen him win the 3000 m Diamond League final, I entertained a secret hope for a medal. And if a world champion title were not enough, Gressier went on to grab bronze in the 5000 m, in a race won by C. Hocker in 12:58.30. Again it was a rather "tame" race with main victim the nineteen years old B. Mehary who, while qualified for the 10000 m, had decided to favour the shorter race where he could do no better than 5th. World and olympic champion J. Ingebrigtsen finished 10th, not having quite recovered from his injuries. The heats of the 5000 m saw the dropout of N. Laros in the heats. It was probably a consequence of his disappointing race in the 1500 m. He was my number one favourite for the title, in particular after his win in the Diamond League final. The heats saw the elimination of world leader A. Habz (one of the rare french hopes for a medal) and of J. Ingebrigtsen. C. Hocker was disqualified in the semis having shouldered his way out of a tightly packed group. When the final sprint was launched, Laros could not follow the Cheruiyots and Wightman, but all of a sudden I. Nader surged forward and piped Wightman on the line, winning in 3:34.10. J. Kerr sustained an injury early in the race and finished hobbling in over 4 minutes. Notice that none of the 9 medallists of the three races  (1500, 5000 and 10000) was among the 10 best performers of the year.

The women's races were the exact opposite of that of men. B. Chebet gave the pace she wished to the 10000 m. When she decided to sprint, the only ones who could follow her was N. Battocletti and G. Tsegay but there was no way any of these two could have won. Her final time of 30:37.61 was not even her best time of the year but it sufficed for victory. F. Kipyegon cruised through her 1500 m final, taking the lead from the outset. She won with 3:52.15 while D. Ewoi passed J. Hull on the final stretch winning silver. This time Hull managed to beat Chepchirchir (who had deprived her of victory in the Diamond League 3000 m). (Concerning N. Hiltz, who finished 5th, I am somewhat frustrated because I cannot manage to find a clear answer whether she is a SRY case. They refer to her as transgender, assigned female at birth, but according to the available information she does not have male gonads and did not experience male puberty). 

Chebet and Kipyegon , thick as thieves

And then came the magnificent 5000 m. Both Chebet and Kipyegon were participating. Here the race was a slow, tactical, one. And it was Kipyegon who launched the final sprint. But Chebet passed her with incredible ease, winning in 14:54.36 (almost a minute more than her under-14 world record). Battocletti was again in the medals but had to settle for bronze given that Chebet and Kipyegon appear untouchable at this time. Tsegay could do no better than 5th and thus the ethiopians took home just one bronze medal in races they erstwhile dominated.

The men's Marathon was judged on the photo-finish, won by  A. Simbu in 2:09.48. I don't remember any other Marathon race where something like this happened. And we are talking here about the world championship. 

P. Jepchirchir added the world title to the olympic one she had won four years ago. She is undoubtedly the best female marathoner today. T. Assefa lost one more marathon on the final sprint. She had lost the olympic title to S. Hassan for 3 seconds and this time she lost to Jepchirchir for just 2: 2:24.43 to 2:24.45. The one thing I do not understand is why the japanese organisers insisted on having the Marathon run in Tokyo where September is always hot and humid. They could very well have organised this in Sapporo, as they did four years ago.

Nobody could have predicted the victory of D. Kambundji in women's 100 m hurdles. Running the perfect race she won with 12.24 s  which elevates her to the second european place of all time. World record holder T. Amusan was second with 12.29 while the pre-race favourite M. Russell was pushed out of the medals by her team-mate, G. Stark. Double world champion D. Williams was once more in the final but finished at 7th place, just ahead of N. Visser for whom I had better hopes. In the men's 110 m hurdles G. Holloway went out in the semis, something predictable given his less than stellar season. The local fans were hoping to see R. Muratake, who is the second world performer this year, win a medal. Unfortunately in a final, won by the logical favourite C. Tinch in 12.99 s, he could do no better than 5th. And the other under-13 performer, J. Kwaou-Mathey (another hope of France for a medal) finished 7th. (He had qualified for the final as 8th beating D. Prince by just 2 milliseconds. Using milliseconds is all the more ridiculous since the two were not running in the same heat). 

The men's 400 m hurdles was an eventful one. K. Warholm started very fast, as always, and led up  to around 250 m. He was then passed by R. Benjamin, and, entering the final stretch, he ran out of steam finishing 5th. A. Dos Santos with a strong finish managed to beat A. Samba for silver, 46.84 to 47.06 s. For Samba it's his best time since 2018 when he became to second hurdler to break the 47 seconds barrier. (And a stupid greek tv commentator was astonished that an "unknown" could get bronze). Benjamin clipped the final hurdle pushing it in E. Nathaniel's lane and was disqualified. But he was reinstated, despite the protests of Nigeria, Brazil and Qatar, and finally was declared winner of the event in 46.52 s. It's a pity that the fifth of what I call the 400 m hurdles musketeers, K. McMaster was not in good shape and exited already in the heats (he was second two years ago, having beaten Benjamin). 

The women's 400 m was the farewell race of that great champion, D. Muhammad. She did make the final but finished in 7th position far from her 52.58 s she had run in July. F. Bol won easily in 51.54 s, and J. Jones confirmed her progress by taking silver in 52.08 s. This is not a good year for A. Cockrell who was beaten for bronze on the finish line by E. Zapletalova. One athlete I am following over the years, since her victory in the 2021 Paris Diamond League, is G. Woodruff and I rejoiced when she ran a 52.66 s personal best in the semis. It would have sufficed for bronze in the final but in the end she could only finish at the 5th place. 

I am a fan of W. Yavi and was disappointed every time in the past when she obtained non-medal places. But then she bloomed and in two years time she became world and olympic champion. Well, 2025 was the year where she lost her title. In Tokyo she led the final up to the last water jump, but at this point it turned out that F. Cherotich was stronger and passed an exhausted Yavi winning in a championships record 8:51.59. Behind them drama unfolded. N. Jeruto who was third fell crossing the water, D. Lemingole who was following also fell, allowing S. Almayew to pass and win bronze. M. Bouzayani also profited from the incident finishing 4th, a tad shy of breaking the 9 minutes barrier. 

The men's race was a pure case of hubris and its punishment. El Bakkali thought that he could beat everybody thanks to his final sprint. So he did not react to the very slow pace of the race, comforted with the knowledge that L. Girma is not a winner and in any case not in its best year. He did not count with the superb effort of G. Beamish who managed to catch him and pass him on the finish line, with 8:33.88, the slowest time ever recorded by the winner of the world championships. (Beamish had a fall during the first round, but still managed to qualify for the final). Last year I wrote that the men's steeplechase is becoming boring due to the absence of kenyans. Well, not anymore. E. Serem is just 18 years old and finished third in Tokyo. I will keep an eye open for him in the following years.

The 4x400 m mixed relay was won by the US team with a championships record of 3:08.80, followed by the Netherlands and Belgium. Nothing astonishing up to that point. It was in the men's 4x400 m semis that all hell broke loose. The second US runner, D. Smith, entered the final stretch at fourth position but the judges had placed the US team in third so the Zambian second relay runner had to cross in front of Smith to pass the relay. It ensued a mix-up between the two US runners and as a consequence B. Deadmon finished a good eighth resulting in a 6th final place for the US team. But US being US, everything is allowed to them and thus Zambia was disqualified, and the US were allowed to rerun (running alone a 4x400 is like a stroll in the woods) and qualified for the final. 

Of course there is some justice in the World, and the US lost the title to an amazing team of Botswana, Kebinatsipi catching Benjamin and beating him on the line with 2:57.76. But what I found even more impressive was W. Van Niekerk's split of 43.26, which together with Nene's 43.93, allowed South Africa to win the bronze medal. (In fact they lost silver to the US for milliseconds but the details are nowhere to be found). 

Impossible to tell who is second just by looking at the photo-finish

The women's US team won easily the 4x400 m relay with 3:16.61. The world record of Soviet Union, from Seoul, does not look completely out of reach. Jamaica was second and the Netherlands third but N. Pryce for Jamaica had a much better anchor than Bol, 48.50 to 49.10 s. (Of course the best anchor was that of McLaughlin with 47.82 s). The women's 4x100 m was the swan's song for Fraser-Pryce who led the jamaican relay to silver with 41.79 s. (A relay in which Tia Clayton, who was not selected for the individual events, joined her sister Tina but where S. Jackson was absent)  The US team anchored by S. Richardson won the title in 41.75 s. The semis of the men's 4x100 m were a pure carnage. Jamaica, Great Britain and South Africa did not manage to finish the race. In the final, despite a sluggish first relay by C. Coleman, the US won over Canada 37.29 to 37.55 s, while the bronze medal went to the team of Netherlands, a minor surprise. 

And to close my report on the 2025 World Championship, here is a photo that I find superb:

All the winners of the various events are on it, as well as several medallists.