E. Knighton would have been an obvious choice for the number one rising star. He was silver medalist in the world championships beaten only by an exceptional runner like N. Lyles. However as I have already chosen him (in fact two years ago) as the rising star of the year I will give him a pass this time. So, my choice for this year male rising star is L. Tebogo.
He shined at the world championships winning silver and bronze over 100 m and 200 m. In fact his personal best over the longer distance is just 1/100 s large than Knighton's 19.50 to 19.49.
E. Wanyonyi occupies the second place. He was the favourite for the gold medal in the 800 m. He lost that race but he took his vengeance winning the Diamond League final in 1:42.80.
For the third place nominee I have two rather than one. J. Hibbert has the world leading performance for 2023 with 17.87 m in the triple jump. And he is just 18 years old. He qualified for the World Championships final with an impressive 17.70 m and then he injured himself at the very first attempt in the final. R. Clarke on the other hand improved the U20 400 m hurdles not once but twice with a great 47.34 s in the semi-finals on teh World Championships. And then he went on to obtain a 4th place in the final beating ex-world champion Dos Santos with a great finish.
Several new talents would have warranted a place in my rising star list: M. Alekna (he was last year's number one), M. Furlani (he was named european rising star), S. Zhoya, M. Laros to name but a few. But I am limiting the list to just three (well, four), so ...
My choice for the female rising star of the year is A. Topic. She is just 18 and has already jumped 1.97 m. I will not surprised if already next year she is a 2 m jumper. (But she was named european rising star, so I am afraid that she has no chance at a world distinction).
B. Haylom is just 17 years old and has a personal best of sub-3:55 in the 1500 m. And she has already a Diamond League victory. She occupies the second place on my list.
The third rising star is none other than N. Ndubuisi, whom I spotted in the European U20 championships. At 19 years of age, a baby by shot put standards, she has a personal best of 17.97 m.
Had I presented a longer list I would have written about the duo A. Mu and K. Hodgkinson. After all, they are just 21 years old. L. Iapicchino is the same age, just as R. Adeleke. All these girls would make excellent candidates for the rising star title. But, wait, there are also younger contenders. I am thinking about A. Werro the talented 800 m runner and also about A. Caune who was the sensation of the world championships 5000 m qualifiers. (Read the Wikipedia article about that race, or, better yet, try to find the video of the race).
I will follow all these young talents and report on their progress.
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