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.
