The WA awards were announced and I'm not convinced

World Athletics announced yesterday the 2020 athletic awards. The ceremony was virtual and the hosts were, the always elegant, S. Richard-Ross and A. Boldon, who is developing  a noticeable embonpoint.

The male athlete of the year was the one who was also my favourite, A. Duplantis. He had a fantastic year and the award was amply deserved. And let's not forget that it was just two years ago, in 2018, that Mondo was nominated rising star of the year. His rise was meteoric but I am convinced that he is here to stay and lead pole vault to another era. (By the way Duplantis' parents obtained the Coaching Achievement Award, a perfectly merited one).

What I have trouble understanding was the nomination of Y. Rojas as female athlete of the year. Two years ago I was nicely surprised by the choice of C. Ibargüen. This year the choice of Rojas looked, to me, as totally incongruous. Rojas did break the indoor world record in winter and then had a well below-par summer season, only to pull herself together in October, jumping a world leading 14.71 m (which, by the way, is nothing to write home about). It is my feeling that the choice of Rojas was a very convenient way to avoid the dilemma of choosing between Hassan and Jepchirchir, a choice that would have, either way, generated (justified) critiques.

This year's awards were bizarre, to say the least. There was a "Member Federations Award", a "Covid Inspiration Award", an "Athletes Community Award" and no Rising Star Award. Frankly I do not understand what WA were thinking by eliminating the later. Are they caring only about how to butter up their member federations? At least the Covid inspiration award went to the  Ultimate Garden Clash, which was R. Lavillenie's idea. I liked the idea quite a lot and in June I published an article on the Ultimate Garden Clash competition, involving three of the best decathletes.

The photograph of the year award was, to my taste, a letdown. Although I can resonate with the message conveyed by the photo of kenyan children participating in a cross country race, I think that what should have counted more is the artistic side, which the photo is sadly lacking. Had I to choose among the three finalists I would have chosen the photo of A. Ngandu-Ntumba but  there are plenty of even nicer photos among the ones that did not make it to the final three. Just look at the photo of the chinese relay under pouring rain.

Rain is also present during Hassan's 10000 m record attempt, but what is exceptional in this case is the out-of-this-world green reflection of the Wavelight pacing system. 

If you wish to see for yourself, you can visit the WA awards page, which, at least as I am writing these lines, presents the shortlist of photos. (It is remarkable that a good one third of them has to do with pole vault, one way or another).

The award that I really appreciated was the one bestowed by the president to T. Smith, P. Norman and J. Carlos. I wrote about the Black Power salute on the podium of the Mexico Olympics in my article on A. Brundage (who was the one to promptly expel Smith and Carlos from the Games). In that article of mine the photo is one taken from an angle different from the one below. One can see there that the two americans are barefoot on the podium, as another sign of protest. 

This time, Sir Sebastian did not mince his words:

“We created the President's Award to recognise and honour exceptional service to athletics.The bravery, dignity and morality of these three men continue to inspire athletes from all sports 50 years on. The image of Smith and Carlos raising fists has become seared in history as an incendiary act of protest by athletes. But sadly, their cause and what they so bravely stood for has not been consigned to the history books. As demonstrations around the world this year have shown, there is much more that needs to be done. I hope that the uncompromising attitude of these three athletes can continue to be an inspiration to all of us who refuse to accept racism.”

And yes, he is talking about all three, since P. Norman was fully supportive of the two black sprinters, wearing the badge of the "Olympic Project for Human Rights" on the podium, an act for which he was subsequently ostracised. (However in 2012 the australian House of Representatives provided a posthumous apology to Norman, who had passed away in 2006).

PS. I had just published this article when the results of the Valencia Marathon arrived where the women's race was won by P. Jepchirchir in 2:17.16. Had the race taken place one week earlier, that may had shifted the balance in favour of the kenyan athlete, who would have amply merited the title of the female athlete of the year.