The WA finalists are announced

We are getting closer to November 29 when the winners will be announced and World Athletics has started publishing the lists of the finalists. It is worth going through them and try to guess the winner.

The Moment of the Year finalists are 

Botswana’s men’s team who won the 4x400 m at the World Athletics Relays

Josh Kerr’s who broke the mile world  record with 3:42.66

Sabastian Sawe who ran the first under-2 hours Marathon with 1:59:30

My favourite for the title is the Marathon one, all the more so since there was another sub-2 performance for the second finisher and the third went also under the previous world record. 

The Fair Play finalists are 

Irine Cheptai who during the Sydney Marathon shared her water with paralympic athlete Michael Roeger

Mondo Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis who combine fierce competition with genuine friendship and mutual respect. (And their competition at Zurich where they jumped 6.25 and 6.20 m respectively figured also in the list of Moments of the Year candidates)

Aaron Beggs and Robson De Oliveira carried a struggling Ajay Haridasse across the line in the Boston Marathon

I would like to see Mondo and Manolo win the title, the image of friendship they project is unique.

The Coach of the Year finalists are 

Felipe de Siqueira, coach of Alison dos Santos

Rolando Greene, coach of Masai Russell and Devynne Charlton

Ken Harnden, coach of Ja’Kobe Tharp

It is not easy to make predictions in this case. If Dos Santos wins the overall title, it is probable that the coach title go to R. Greene. (Did you notice that all three coaches are hurdle specialists? 2026 was indeed a great year for hurdles).

The Photograph of the Year finalists

There were 146 entries this year and a first selection narrowed the list to 10. I hope that, just like last year, WA will give us access to the shortlist of 10. If you follow my blog you'll remember that last year I was not happy with the selection for the title, that I found insipid, just a photo playing with shadows. Speaking of which, shadows are dominating again this year (but this time both photos are interesting). Here they are

'Men's 4x100m finish silhouette' by Tom Jenkins, taken during the Commonwealth Games

‘Chasing light’ by Gaëlle Mobuchon featuring Rai Benjamin during the 400 m of the Ultimate Championship

‘Your medal amidst water droplets’ by Victor Seco Muñoz at the final river jump of the 3000 m steeplechase of the European Championships

I am not a great fan of shadows and I find the photo of Muñoz really moving. Lea Meyer was battling for a medal With F. Krause and A. Finot, but she fell and her hopes evaporated. At this precise moment, she knows it. (She finished fourth in the end, being passed for the medal by O. Gürth).

The Man World Athlete of the Year finalists

Alison dos Santos, who set a world record with 45.80 at the 400 m hurdles

Mondo Duplantis, who set a world record with 6.31 m at the pole vault

Sabastian Sawe,  who set a world record with 1:59:30 at the Marathon

I have nothing to add here: this is my top-three list. And my prediction is for Dos Santos winning the title, Sawe being my favourite for the Moment of the Year.

The Woman World Athlete of the Year finalists

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who set the third all-time performance with 21.47 at the 200 m

Masai Russell, who set a world record with 12.09 at the 100 m hurdles

Audrey Werro, who set the third all-time performance with 1:53.70 at the 800 m

My choice for athlete of the year was Marileidy Paulino who finished fifth in the classification that determined the finalists, behind Tigst Assefa. Given the list of three my prediction for the title is Masai Russell. She not only broke the record but she was (like Dos Santos) unbeaten in her discipline.

The 2026 Rising Stars: my choice

I do not know precisely what criteria World Athletics uses for its Rising Stars category. In any case, I am sure they are not the same as mine. For me, anybody under 23 years of age is eligible. The key notion is “rising”: if an athlete who was already more or less known is going through a phase of rapid progression that brings him or her among the world’s best, he or she can be part of my Rising Stars.

On the other hand, some athletes have such explosive progression that they bypass the rising-star stage and place themselves among the elite selected for the year’s best. J. Tharp is one such example, although, admittedly, he was not unknown, having won the 2025 US championships. But going from 13.01 to a world-record 12.75 s is quite a feat, and it won him a place among the year’s best (in both the WA and my list).

There are other athletes who appear in the year’s-best list (either the WA one or mine) and who could qualify for my list of Rising Stars: Kebinatshipi, Wanyonyi, Werro, Cherotich and Yan. Speaking of Yan, she is my absolute Rising Star, despite the fact that she figures in the “grown-ups” best list.

But since I follow the rule that I include in my Rising Stars only athletes not selected for the year’s best, I must choose my top female Rising Star, and she is Hana Moll.

I have been following the Moll twins since last year, when they finished sixth at the World Championships. Amanda Moll jumped 4.91 m last year but was injured in July and had to curtail her season. Her sister Hana took advantage of the occasion to equal the family record, winning the Diamond League final with 4.91 m. Let us see whether the competition between the two sisters leads them over 5 m, which looks like a (psychological?) barrier for today’s vaulters.

Adaejah Hodge produced two great performances at the NCAA championships, running 10.63 and 21.68 s in the 100 m and 200 m respectively. She then went on to win the Commonwealth Games over the longer distance.

The list could go on and on. Alyssa Jones won the NCAA championships, jumping over 7 m in the long jump. Birke Haylom won three Diamond League 1500 m races (although her performances were not on a par with those of two years ago). Jiale Zhang threw an Asian-record 78.64 m in the hammer and went on to win the Asian Games. Lurdes Manuel won the indoor world 400 m title and ran an excellent 49.37 s in June (but her performances at the end of the season were not of the same level). Angelina Topic joined the 2 m high-jump club and won a bronze medal at the Ultimate Championship, but, to tell the truth, I was expecting something better from her, at least performance-wise.

Cameron Myers won the Diamond League final in the 1500 m, and his 3:28.00 personal best from June places him among the best in the discipline. He lost both the Commonwealth and the Ultimate title to Josh Kerr, but I think that, given his talent, he will be number one in the very near future.

Cooper Lutkenhaus had an incredible start to the season, winning two Diamond League races and bringing his personal best down to 1:42.08. Unfortunately, he injured himself and his season was cut short. I shall keep an eye on him next year.

Several other young athletes distinguished themselves and qualify as Rising Stars. Jaiden Reid won the 200 m at the NCAA championships in 19.63 s (but took the rest of the season off, playing it safe given his hamstring problems). Gout Gout ran a very early 19.67 s in the 200 m, but then suffered a left hamstring tear in July and had to withdraw from the U20 Championships. (He did not have surgery and is expected to return for the Australian summer season.) Although Kebinatshipi is the master of the 400 m, the top 2026 performance is not his. Samuel Ogazi ran 43.38 when winning the NCAA title, and he went on to win the Commonwealth Games. Taijy Goto won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles at the Asian Games with 47.93 s. Will he join the low-hurdles musketeers? Given that he is just 17 years old, this looks highly possible. Edmund Serem is, to my eyes, the personification of the Kenyan steeplechase renaissance. Unfortunately, I have the impression that he lacks a little consistency in his races. This year, he started with an excellent 8:01.61 in May and won the Commonwealth Games in July, but his remaining races were not memorable. He is still only 18 years old, so I hope that he will indeed rise to the top.

Those who follow my blog must have noticed that I was not particularly at ease when compiling the Rising Stars list. But I am learning from my mistakes, and I am now following the results of young athletes all year long. This perhaps explains why the list is longer than those of previous years. But bear with me, because I would like to add another entry to my “rising” list.

The French pole-vault school goes back more than a century. (Come to think of it, I should one day write an article on the subject.) So, it is interesting to see who is going to perpetuate this tradition of excellence. Zackaria Dia, at 18 years of age, won the World U20 title and, with a 5.82 m personal best, sits in second place on the all-time U20 list, just behind M. Duplantis. He is known to have said: “If Duplantis has done it, why wouldn’t I too?” Time will tell. 

The 1896 Olympics, or how de Coubertin became anti‑Greek (part 6 of “the real story of the Olympics”)

The 1894 Congress decided that the 1896 Olympics would be held in Athens. And now Vikelas and de Coubertin had to organise them. In less than two years’ time!

Vikelas was the first to go to Athens, in October 1894. He hoped that, by working with the Zappas Committee, he would be able to form a local Olympic Organizing Committee. But he learned that his wife had fallen seriously ill, and he left precipitously for France. So it was up to de Coubertin to take the relay. And what a disaster it was!

De Coubertin arrived knowing nothing about Greek politics. He met Crown Prince Constantine, and the latter agreed to preside over the organizing committee. But when de Coubertin met Prime Minister Trikoupis, he got a resounding “No” on the question of whether the Games would even be held. He got the same answer from Dragoumis, head of the Olympic Committee (and a political ally of Trikoupis). Of course, de Coubertin ignored the fact that Prince Constantine and Trikoupis were political enemies. After meeting with Dragoumis, de Coubertin decided to form his own Greek organizing committee. Dragoumis gave him a meeting room in the Zappeion and suggested some names for the committee, as per de Coubertin’s (naïve, as it turned out) request. The names that Dragoumis gave were essentially anti‑royalist; and when de Coubertin convened the group and announced that Prince Constantine would preside, the committee waited for de Coubertin to leave for France and promptly dissolved itself.

His wife dead and buried, Vikelas rushed back to Athens to repair the damage done by de Coubertin’s ignorance (and, perhaps, haughtiness). Together with Prince Constantine he formed another committee and proceeded to organise the 1896 Games. And they got lucky. Trikoupis lost the elections and was replaced by Deligiannis, who was in favour of sports (and had given substantial support to the Fokianos Panhellenic Games of 1891). Under the new prime minister, the Olympic Games preparations proceeded apace. The message was that these Games were the fulfilment of Zappas’ dream.

But still, Vikelas felt that de Coubertin’s support was missing. In December 1894 and early 1895, in letter after letter, Vikelas begged Coubertin to be more active: to write to specific men about the preparations; to help make decisions on facilities; to send the plans the Baron had promised for the velodrome; to come to Greece himself to work with the organizing committee. All to no avail. De Coubertin, occupied with writing a French history book and preparing for marriage, switched his focus away from the Olympic Games, in which he had lost interest. He refused to come to Athens to help and did very little for the 1896 preparations. At one point, it seems, he even tried to resign from the IOC. (Vikelas refused to accept his resignation). So the Games were organised by Vikelas, Constantine, and the Greek Olympic organising committee.

The medal carries the inscription Herodes-Averof (the former built the stadium in the 2nd century AD and the latter renovated it in the19th).

The Athens 1896 Olympics were a success. I will not give details of the competition itself. The literature on this abounds. But this success was not obtained thanks to de Coubertin, who arrived just ten days before the Opening Ceremony, after many of the other spectators.

Of course, when the 1896 Games succeeded, Coubertin claimed that he had been “the sole author of the entire project”. And he later complained that the ungrateful Greeks refused to give him credit, snubbed him, and had refused his suggestions about the Games, refused to let him take an active part in the 1896 organisation—doing everything on their own. This last point is true. The Greeks did nearly everything on their own. They had to. For the Baron was amazingly unhelpful, incredibly aloof from the actual preparation for the Games.

But the last act was written after the Games. Up to that point, de Coubertin was on excellent terms with the Greek royal family. In fact, when preparing the Paris Congress and fearing opposition (or perhaps mere lack of interest) to an Olympic revival, de Coubertin asked his archaeologist friend Charles Waldstein, then excavating in Greece, to approach the Greek royal family about his Olympic plan. Prince Constantine and Waldstein had a long talk about the Olympics, and the latter wrote to the Baron that Constantine had agreed to serve as an honorary member of the Paris Congress. However, after the successful Games, the royal family made clear their desire to keep the Games permanently in Greece. And at that point the schism became permanent.

De Coubertin went to great lengths to avoid Greece becoming the permanent organiser of the Olympics, up to and including rewriting history and covering up the very existence of the Zappas Olympics (which he knew very well; Vikelas himself had reminded him of it in no uncertain terms in a letter sent just after the 1896 Olympics: “… As you know, the idea of re‑establishing the ancient Games dates from far back. Evangelis Zappas, one of Greece’s benefactors …”). It probably has to do with the fact that de Coubertin felt that he had not been the most important person during the Athens Olympics, and he resented the fact. Be that as it may, from then on, de Coubertin was a sworn foe of Greece. And so, when Greece organised the Intercalated Games of 1906—the Games that saved the Olympics after the fiascos of Paris and St Louis—he excluded those Games from the official Olympic sequence, exacting revenge on the Greeks.

This completes “the real story of the Olympics”. I may write about the Paris and St. Louis Games one day, and perhaps about the Athens 1906 Games. But this is not a formal promise, so don’t hold your breath.