2023 World Men’s Top 10 Voting

1. Ryan Crouser (USA)

In a 1-point squeaker, the self-coached Crouser topped last year’s No. 1 by authoring one of the finest shot campaigns in history. In his second AOY season (he won in ’21) and fourth appearance in the top 10, the 30-year old broke the World Record with 77-3¾ (23.56) and then used the No. 2 toss ever (77-1¾/23.51) to capture his fourth global title. In all he produced 4 of the 7 farthest throws ever. With 15 of the 16 best throws of the year, he would have gone undefeated but for a 2cm loss to Joe Kovacs at the Diamond League Final.

2. Mondo Duplantis (Sweden)

Just like last year, the ’22 AOY pole vault überstar won every meet but one, took the World gold and the Diamond League Final, cleared 6.00 (19-8¼) in every meet but 4, and broke the World Record. In ’22, he broke the WR thrice. This season the 23-year-old had to settle for twice, topped by his 20-5¼ (6.23) in his last leap of the season to claim the DL Final. For all that he still fell a single vote short of being the first repeater at the top since David Rudisha in ’12.

3. Kelvin Kiptum (Kenya)

It only took two races to propel the 23-year-old marathoner to No. 3 in his first-ever appearance in the Top 10, but what races they were! In April he won London in 2:01:25, the No. 2 performance in history and missing the WR by just 16 seconds. Then in Chicago in October, he slashed 23 seconds from Eliud Kipchoge’s standard and scared the 2:00 barrier with his 2:00:35. The most sobering statistic of all is that it was only his second year in the event.

4. Noah Lyles (USA)

Last year’s all-dominating 200 star added earnest 100 sprinting to his repertoire in ’23, clocking world-leading times of 9.83 and 19.47 and winning WC golds in both. Over 100, he won 4 of 7 finals and moved to a tie for No. 15 on the all-time list. Over 200, he won all 6 finals and clocked 4 of the top 9 performances of the season. He repeats the No. 4 spot he occupied last year in his fourth appearance in our Top 10.

5. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway)

Once again, the Scandinavian phenom lost the championship 1500, but produced so many superlatives that he repeats at No. 5. Save for the Worlds, he went undefeated in the 1500/Mile, winning 5 Diamond Leagues and taking the final in the No. 3 mile time ever, 3:43.73. His 1500 best of 3:27.95 moved him to No. 4 all-time. He only ran one 5000 race but he made it count, taking Budapest gold. He also set WRs at 2000 (4:43.13) and 2M (7:54.10) and hit 7:23.63 for No. 3 ever at 3000.

6. Soufiane El Bakkali (Morocco)

Undefeated in 5 steeples, the lanky 27-year-old won his third straight global title in Budapest and moved to No. 9 all-time with his PR 7:56.68 in his season-opener in Rabat. He went on to win 3 other Diamond League races and ran 3 of the 4 fastest times of the year. He improves his position in the Top 10 from No. 8 last year, and is the first steepler to rank two years in a row since Saïf Shaheen in ’05 & ’06.

7. Karsten Warholm (Norway)

The Norwegian 400 hurdler continued to make his mark on the discipline where he holds the World Record, clocking 46.51 (No. 5 all-time), 46.52 (No. 6) and 46.53 (No. 7). He bounced back from an injury-marred ’22 campaign to capture his third world title in Budapest, going undefeated until a pair of late-season losses. The ’19 AOY, his third appearance in the top 10 marks the second time that Norway has placed two in this exclusive club.

8. Pierce LePage (Canada)

An undefeated season in the decathlon gave LePage his first top 10 appearance. The 27-year-old started his season with an impressive 8700-point win at the important Götzis competition. Then he reeled off a stunning 8909 and moved to No. 6 performer all-time (and No. 8 performance) with his gold-winning effort in Budapest. It is only the second appearance by a Canadian in the Top 10 in the last 27 years, the other being Damian Warner, who was 2nd in both of LePage’s wins this season, in ’21.

9. Álvaro Martín (Spain)

The 29-year-old walker won the ultra-fast World Championships 20K in a world-leading 1:17:32, then 5 days later reeled off another PR, 2:24:30, to win the 35K gold as well. They were his first global podium finishes (he had been 4th in the Tokyo 20K). At 20K he won 2 of 3 races, and he went undefeated in 3 contests over 35K, including the European Team Champs. He is the first walker to make the Top 10 since Robert Korzeniowski in ’03.

10. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Greece)

Not since vaulter Chris Papanicoláou in 1970 has Greece placed an athlete in the top 10; Tentóglou’s clutch long jump season made him the first in 53 years. He won 13 of 15 competitions, 2 of the wins coming in DL matches. He took both the European Indoor and European Team Championships, and in Budapest he came from behind on his final jump to grab gold. The defending Olympic champion, 25, is in his third year atop the long jump Rankings.