FOR THE SECOND YEAR in a row Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400H WR twice, with the second of them earning POY honors in an AOY year.
The 14 performances which received recognition in our 5-4-3-2-1 scoring system:
1. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s 50.68 WR, 88 (17 No. 1s)
Nearly perfect. The AOY’s record run to win the World Championship gold earned her No. 1 votes from all but one on the panel (perhaps a high-tech shoe skeptic?). That assessment matches the athlete’s, as she has said repeatedly that her performance was not perfect: “We thought we’d be able to go a little bit faster.”
2. Tobi Amusan’s 12.12 WR, 48
“Unlooked for” might be an understatement. Absolutely no one saw the Nigerian’s WR coming in the semis in Eugene. Even Amusan said, “I could not believe it when I saw it on the screen. But it was just a matter of time.” Later in the day she confirmed the performance with a 12.06 in the barely wind-aided final, a performance that ended up No. 6 in our tabulation.
3. Yulimar Rojas’s 51-7¾ (15.74), 47 (1)
“I was born to jump far,” says the queen of the triple bounce. The Venezuelan saved her best for the final round at the World Indoors in Belgrade, adding 7cm (2¾in) to the best-ever, indoors or out. “Maybe one day I’ll be known as ‘the girl of the sixth jump.” One panelist called it the No. 1 POY as 16 of 18 awarded it points.
4. Shericka Jackson’s 21.45, 40
The Jamaican has been good for years but this year displayed greatness. Her blazing 21.45 destroyed the World Championships meet record and marked the closest any woman had ever come to Flojo’s now 34-year-old record of 21.34. “I came out and put on a show,” Jackson said.
5. Faith Kipyegon’s 3:50.37, 16
Olympic champion, World champion. The Kenyan keeps piling up the honors in the 1500 but the WR has eluded her. Her 3:50.37 in Monaco fell just 0.3 short of Genzebe Dibaba’s 2015 mark. “I have been chasing the time for quite some time but I am happy with the personal best,” she said. “It seems I did not give all but I tried hard.”
Other Vote-Getters:
6. Amusan’s 12.06w Worlds win, 10
7. Valarie Allman’s 234-5 (71.46) “millennium WR”, 5
8. Ruth Chepngetich’s 2:14:18, 4
9. tie, Femke Bol’s Euro triple & Kipyegon’s 3:52.96 Worlds win, 3
11. tie, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s 10.67 Worlds win & McLaughlin’s 51.41 WR, 2
13. tie, Kimberley Garcia’s Worlds double & Norah Jeruto’s 8:53.02 Worlds win, 1.