T&FN began formally selecting men’s AOYs in 1959. The voting process has evolved through multiple methodologies since then.
For ’59 through ’64 no specific point totals were printed in the magazine, nor was there any ranking beyond the announcement of the winner. Unfortunately, our archives contain no paper trail that allows any reconstruction of the details.
For ’66 through ’70, the international panel voted for 5 athletes, who were scored 5-4-3-2-1. The next year the system was 6-5-4-3-2-1, and in ’72 the current 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system was introduced. So what follows is the top 10 for each of the years, where known.
Codes: * = athlete was also in the top 10 of the previous year’s voting; the number shown is % of a perfect score.
Trivia
The top scorers (scored 10-9-8….): 1. Carl Lewis 74; 2. Sergey Bubka 70; 3. Michael Johnson 68; 4. Hicham El Guerrouj 66; 5. Edwin Moses 63.
Most years in the Top 10: Bubka 10; Lewis, Moses & Johnson 9; El Guerrouj 8
There have been 5 perfect scores: Henry Rono ’78, Johnson ’96, Usain Bolt ’08 & ’09, David Rudisha ’10.
Lewis, El Guerrouj & Rudisha are the only 3-time winners, Lewis & Rudisha the only 3 in a rows.
The best U.S. years were ’66, ’67 , ’10 & ’19, with 6 of the top 10.
The worst U.S. year was ’86, the only shutout (there were single scorers in ’80, ’97 & ’04).
The year with the least turnover was ’07, when no fewer than 7 of the ’06 Top 10 returned. On 3 occasions there have been 6 repeaters: ’67 (including the top 6), ’85, ’12 & ’16 (including the top 5)… There has never been a year with no repeaters, but single-shots have come up 5 times: ’70, ’73, ’89, ’90 & ’11.
switch to women
| 1959 |
| 1. |
Martin Lauer |
West Germany |
|
| 1960 |
| 1. |
Rafer Johnson |
USA |
|
| 1962 |
| 1. |
Peter Snell |
New Zealand |
|
| 1964 |
| 1. |
Peter Snell |
New Zealand |
|
| 1965 |
| 1. |
Ron Clarke |
Australia |
87.7% |
| 2. |
Randy Matson |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Michel Jazy |
France |
|
| 4. |
Kip Keino |
Kenya |
|
| 5. |
Ludvík Danek |
Czechoslovakia |
|
| 6. |
Ralph Boston |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Gyula Zsivótzky |
Hungary |
|
| 8. |
Gaston Roelants |
Belgium |
|
| 9. |
Jürgen May |
East Germany |
|
| 1966 |
| 1. |
Jim Ryun |
USA |
95.6% |
| 2. |
Tommie Smith |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Randy Matson * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Kip Keino * |
Kenya |
|
| 5. |
Ron Clarke * |
Australia |
|
| 6. |
Janis Lusis |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Romuald Klim |
Soviet Union |
|
| 8. |
Ralph Boston * |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Bill Toomey |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Al Oerter |
USA |
|
| 1967 |
| 1. |
Jim Ryun * |
USA |
94.4% |
| 2. |
Randy Matson * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Tommie Smith * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Janis Lusis * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 5. |
Ron Clarke * |
Australia |
|
| 6. |
Kip Keino * |
Kenya |
|
| 7. |
Kurt Bendlin |
West Germany |
|
| 8. |
Ron Whitney |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Jim Hines |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Bob Seagren |
USA |
|
| 1968 |
| 1. |
Bob Beamon |
USA |
89.6% |
| 2. |
Janis Lusis * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 3. |
Lee Evans |
USA |
|
| 4. |
David Hemery |
Great Britain |
|
| 5. |
Kip Keino * |
Kenya |
|
| 6. |
Al Oerter |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Tommie Smith * |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Viktor Saneyev |
Soviet Union |
|
| =9. |
Ron Clarke * |
Australia |
|
| =9. |
Bob Seagren * |
USA |
|
| 1969 |
| 1. |
Bill Toomey |
USA |
84.0% |
| 2. |
John Carlos |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Anatoliy Bondarchuk |
Soviet Union |
|
| 4. |
Viktor Saneyev * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 5. |
Willie Davenport |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Janis Lusis * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Lee Evans * |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Jorma Kinnunen |
Finland |
|
| 9. |
Marty Liquori |
USA |
|
| =10. |
Naftali Bon |
Kenya |
|
| =10. |
John Pennell |
USA |
|
| 1970 |
| 1. |
Randy Matson |
USA |
66.0% |
| 2. |
Wolfgang Nordwig |
East Germany |
|
| 3. |
Kerry O’Brien |
Australia |
|
| 4. |
Chihchin Ni |
China |
|
| 5. |
Jean-Claude Nallet |
France |
|
| 6. |
Chris Papanicoláou |
Greece |
|
| 7. |
Pauli Nevala |
Finland |
|
| 8. |
Yevgeniy Arzhanov |
Soviet Union |
|
| 9. |
Viktor Saneyev * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 10. |
Ralph Mann |
USA |
|
| 1971 |
| 1. |
Rod Milburn |
USA |
82.8% |
| 2. |
John Smith |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Juha Väätäinen |
Finland |
|
| 4. |
Valeriy Borzov |
Soviet Union |
|
| 5. |
Don Quarrie |
Jamaica |
|
| 6. |
Wolfgang Nordwig * |
East Germany |
|
| 7. |
Pat Matzdorf |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Jay Silvester |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Yevgeniy Arzhanov * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 10. |
Dave Bedford |
Great Britain |
|
| 1972 |
| 1. |
Lasse Viren |
Finland |
91.0% |
| 2. |
John Akii-Bua |
Uganda |
|
| 3. |
Nikolay Avilov |
Soviet Union |
|
| 4. |
Valeriy Borzov * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 5. |
Frank Shorter |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Anatoliy Bondarchuk |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Viktor Saneyev |
Soviet Union |
|
| 8. |
Pekka Vasala |
Finland |
|
| 9. |
Rod Milburn * |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Bernd Kannenberg |
West Germany |
|
| 1973 |
| 1. |
Ben Jipcho |
Kenya |
89.3% |
| 2. |
Al Feuerbach |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Rod Milburn * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Dwight Stones |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Emiel Puttemans |
Belgium |
|
| 6. |
Filbert Bayi |
Tanzania |
|
| 7. |
Ricky Bruch |
Sweden |
|
| 8. |
Steve Williams |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Rick Wohlhuter |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Klaus Wolfermann |
West Germany |
|
| 1974 |
| 1. |
Rick Wohlhuter * |
USA |
95.5% |
| 2. |
Jim Bolding |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Brendan Foster |
Great Britain |
|
| 4. |
Bruce Jenner |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Ian Thompson |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Filbert Bayi * |
Tanzania |
|
| 7. |
Ben Jipcho * |
Kenya |
|
| 8. |
Viktor Saneyev |
Soviet Union |
|
| 9. |
Silvio Leonard |
Cuba |
|
| 10. |
Dwight Stones * |
USA |
|
| 1975 |
| 1. |
John Walker |
New Zealand |
84.3% |
| 2. |
Brian Oldfield |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Karl-Hans Riehm |
West Germany |
|
| 4. |
Guy Drut |
France |
|
| 5. |
Bruce Jenner * |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Viktor Saneyev * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Anders Gärderud |
Sweden |
|
| 8. |
João Oliveira |
Brazil |
|
| 9. |
Mike Boit |
Kenya |
|
| 10. |
Filbert Bayi * |
Tanzania |
|
| 1976 |
| 1. |
Alberto Juantorena |
Cuba |
95.0% |
| 2. |
Bruce Jenner * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Mac Wilkins |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Edwin Moses |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Lasse Viren |
Finland |
|
| 6. |
Viktor Saneyev * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Anders Gärderud * |
Sweden |
|
| 8. |
John Walker * |
New Zealand |
|
| 9. |
Don Quarrie |
Jamaica |
|
| 10. |
Miklós Németh |
Hungary |
|
| 1977 |
| 1. |
Alberto Juantorena * |
Cuba |
95.0% |
| 2. |
Edwin Moses * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Rolf Beilschmidt |
East Germany |
|
| 4. |
Władysław Kozakiewicz |
Poland |
|
| 5. |
Steve Ovett |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Miruts Yifter |
Ethiopia |
|
| 7. |
Udo Beyer |
East Germany |
|
| 8. |
Bill Rodgers |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Samson Kimobwa |
Kenya |
|
| 10. |
Daniel Bautista |
Mexico |
|
| 1978 |
| 1. |
Henry Rono |
Kenya |
100.0% |
| 2. |
Volodimir Yashchenko |
Soviet Union |
|
| 3. |
Udo Beyer * |
East Germany |
|
| 4. |
Edwin Moses * |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Steve Ovett * |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Wolfgang Schmidt |
East Germany |
|
| 7. |
Renaldo Nehemiah |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Raul Gonzales |
Mexico |
|
| 9. |
Clancy Edwards |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Michael Wessing |
West Germany |
|
| 1979 |
| 1. |
Seb Coe |
Great Britain |
95.8% |
| 2. |
Renaldo Nehemiah * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Edwin Moses * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Larry Myricks |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Udo Beyer * |
East Germany |
|
| 6. |
Steve Ovett * |
Great Britain |
|
| 7. |
Wolfgang Schmidt * |
East Germany |
|
| 8. |
Harald Schmid |
West Germany |
|
| 9. |
João Oliveira |
Brazil |
|
| 10. |
Pietro Mennea |
Italy |
|
| 1980 |
| 1. |
Edwin Moses * |
USA |
99.2% |
| 2. |
Pietro Mennea * |
Italy |
|
| 3. |
Steve Ovett * |
Great Britain |
|
| 4. |
Władysław Kozakiewicz |
Poland |
|
| 5. |
Lutz Dombrowski |
East Germany |
|
| 6. |
Miruts Yifter |
Ethiopia |
|
| 7. |
Daley Thompson |
Great Britain |
|
| 8. |
Gerd Wessig |
East Germany |
|
| 9. |
Seb Coe * |
Great Britain |
|
| 10. |
Karl-Hans Riehm |
West Germany |
|
| 1981 |
| 1. |
Seb Coe * |
Great Britain |
97.0% |
| 2. |
Carl Lewis |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Renaldo Nehemiah |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Edwin Moses * |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Steve Ovett * |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Ben Plucknett |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Alberto Salazar |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Konstantin Volkov |
Soviet Union |
|
| 9. |
Yuriy Syedikh |
Soviet Union |
|
| 10. |
Henry Rono |
Kenya |
|
| 1982 |
| 1. |
Carl Lewis * |
USA |
96.2% |
| 2. |
Daley Thompson |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Bob Roggy |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Keith Connor |
Great Britain |
|
| 5. |
Alberto Salazar * |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Yuriy Syedikh * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Dave Moorcroft |
Great Britain |
|
| 8. |
Harald Schmid |
West Germany |
|
| 9. |
Milt Ottey |
Canada |
|
| 10. |
Luis Delís |
Cuba |
|
| 1983 |
| 1. |
Carl Lewis * |
USA |
98.8% |
| 2. |
Edwin Moses |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Sergey Litvinov |
Soviet Union |
|
| 4. |
Calvin Smith |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Steve Cram |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Rob de Castella |
Australia |
|
| 7. |
Detlef Michel |
East Germany |
|
| 8. |
Greg Foster |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Jianhua Zhu |
China |
|
| 10. |
Daley Thompson * |
Great Britain |
|
| 1984 |
| 1. |
Carl Lewis * |
USA |
99.6% |
| 2. |
Uwe Hohn |
East Germany |
|
| 3. |
Yuriy Syedikh |
Soviet Union |
|
| 4. |
Saïd Aouita |
Morocco |
|
| 5. |
Joaquim Cruz |
Brazil |
|
| 6. |
Sergey Bubka |
Soviet Union |
|
| 7. |
Edwin Moses * |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Daley Thompson * |
Great Britain |
|
| 9. |
Seb Coe |
Great Britain |
|
| 10. |
Carlos Lopes |
Portugal |
|
| 1985 |
| 1. |
Saïd Aouita * |
Morocco |
93.8% |
| 2. |
Steve Cram |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 4. |
Willie Banks |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Uwe Hohn * |
East Germany |
|
| 6. |
Ulf Timmermann * |
East Germany |
|
| 7. |
Carl Lewis * |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Steve Jones |
Great Britain |
|
| 9. |
Mike Conley |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Joaquim Cruz * |
Brazil |
|
| 1986 |
| 1. |
Yuriy Syedikh |
Soviet Union |
88.4% |
| 2. |
Saïd Aouita * |
Morocco |
|
| 3. |
Ben Johnson |
Canada |
|
| 4. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 5. |
Daley Thompson |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Gabriel Tiacoh |
Côte d’Ivoire |
|
| 7. |
Steve Cram * |
Great Britain |
|
| 8. |
Seb Coe |
Great Britain |
|
| 9. |
Ulf Timmermann * |
East Germany |
|
| 10. |
Igor Paklin |
Soviet Union |
|
| 1987 |
| 1. |
Saïd Aouita * |
Morocco |
|
| 2. |
Carl Lewis |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Soviet Union |
|
| 4. |
Patrik Sjöberg |
Sweden |
|
| 5. |
Francesco Panetta |
Italy |
|
| 6. |
Werner Günthör |
Switzerland |
|
| 7. |
Khristo Markov |
Bulgaria |
|
| 8. |
Edwin Moses |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Sergey Litvinov |
Soviet Union |
|
| 10. |
Ulf Timmermann |
East Germany |
|
| ¶Ben Johnson (Canada) |
voted No. 1 with 96.8% rating but retroactively banned for doping |
|
|
| 1988 |
| 1. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Soviet Union |
88.2% |
| 2. |
Ulf Timmermann |
East Germany |
|
| 3. |
Carl Lewis * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Roger Kingdom |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Butch Reynolds |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Andre Phillips |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Julius Kariuki |
Kenya |
|
| 8. |
Jürgen Schult |
East Germany |
|
| 9. |
Joe DeLoach |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Tapio Korjus |
Finland |
|
| 1989 |
| 1. |
Roger Kingdom * |
USA |
93.4% |
| 2. |
Saïd Aouita |
Morocco |
|
| 3. |
Javier Sotomayor |
Cuba |
|
| 4. |
Arturo Barrios |
Mexico |
|
| 5. |
Abdi Bile |
Somalia |
|
| 6. |
Robson da Silva |
Brazil |
|
| 7. |
Paul Ereng |
Kenya |
|
| 8. |
Rodion Gataullin |
Soviet Union |
|
| 9. |
Steve Backley |
Great Britain |
|
| 10. |
Mike Conley |
USA |
|
| 1990 |
| 1. |
Michael Johnson |
USA |
92.2% |
| 2. |
Steve Backley * |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Salvatore Antibo |
Italy |
|
| 4. |
Kenny Harrison |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Danny Harris |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Leroy Burrell |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Igor Astapkovich |
Soviet Union |
|
| 8. |
Christian Plaziat |
France |
|
| 9. |
Ulf Timmermann |
East Germany |
|
| 10. |
Mike Powell |
USA |
|
| 1991 |
| 1. |
Sergey Bubka |
Soviet Union |
92.0% |
| 2. |
Carl Lewis |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Michael Johnson * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Mike Powell * |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Dan O’Brien |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Noureddine Morceli |
Algeria |
|
| 7. |
Samuel Matete |
Zambia |
|
| 8. |
Werner Günthör |
Switzerland |
|
| 9. |
Leroy Burrell * |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Moses Kiptanui |
Kenya |
|
| 1992 |
| 1. |
Kevin Young |
USA |
99.3% |
| 2. |
Moses Kiptanui * |
Kenya |
|
| 3. |
Quincy Watts |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Ukraine |
|
| 5. |
Carl Lewis * |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Jan Železný |
Czechoslovakia |
|
| 7. |
Mike Marsh |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Mike Conley |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Dieter Baumann |
Germany |
|
| 10. |
Linford Christie |
Great Britain |
|
| 1993 |
| 1. |
Noureddine Morceli |
Algeria |
94.9% |
| 2. |
Colin Jackson |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Jan Železný * |
Czechia |
|
| 4. |
Javier Sotomayor |
Cuba |
|
| 5. |
Michael Johnson |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Ukraine |
|
| 7. |
Linford Christie * |
Great Britain |
|
| 8. |
Mike Powell |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Mike Conley * |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Yobes Ondieki |
Kenya |
|
| 1994 |
| 1. |
Noureddine Morceli |
Algeria * |
91.4% |
| 2. |
Colin Jackson * |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Javier Sotomayor * |
Cuba |
|
| 4. |
Sergey Bubka * |
Ukraine |
|
| 5. |
Michael Johnson * |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Dan O’Brien |
USA |
|
| 7. |
William Sigei |
Kenya |
|
| 8. |
Jan Železný * |
Czechia |
|
| 9. |
Vénuste Niyongabo |
Burundi |
|
| 10. |
Moses Kiptanui |
Kenya |
|
| 1995 |
| 1. |
Haile Gebrselassie |
Ethiopia |
94.3% |
| 2. |
Jonathan Edwards |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Michael Johnson * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Noureddine Morceli * |
Algeria |
|
| 5. |
Moses Kiptanui * |
Kenya |
|
| 6. |
Iván Pedroso |
Cuba |
|
| 7. |
Jan Železný * |
Czechia |
|
| 8. |
Wilson Kipketer |
Denmark |
|
| 9. |
Lars Riedel |
Germany |
|
| 10. |
Dan O’Brien * |
USA |
|
| 1996 |
| 1. |
Michael Johnson * |
USA |
100.0% |
| 2. |
Wilson Kipketer * |
Denmark |
|
| 3. |
Jan Železný * |
Czechia |
|
| 4. |
Daniel Komen |
Kenya |
|
| 5. |
Allen Johnson |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Frank Fredericks |
Namibia |
|
| 7. |
Donovan Bailey |
Canada |
|
| 8. |
Lars Riedel * |
Germany |
|
| 9. |
Dan O’Brien * |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Noureddine Morceli |
Algeria |
|
| 1997 |
| 1. |
Wilson Kipketer * |
Denmark |
98.6% |
| 2. |
Haile Gebrselassie |
Ethiopia |
|
| 3. |
Daniel Komen * |
Kenya |
|
| 4. |
Hicham El Guerrouj |
Morocco |
|
| 5. |
Iván Pedroso |
Cuba |
|
| 6. |
Lars Riedel * |
Germany |
|
| 7. |
Sergey Bubka |
Ukraine |
|
| 8. |
Allen Johnson * |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Frank Fredericks * |
Namibia |
|
| 10. |
Moses Kiptanui |
Kenya |
|
| 1998 |
| 1. |
Haile Gebrselassie * |
Ethiopia |
95.8% |
| 2. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
|
| 3. |
John Godina |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Jonathan Edwards |
Great Britain |
|
| 5. |
Michael Johnson |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Ato Boldon |
Trinidad |
|
| 7. |
Iván Pedroso * |
Cuba |
|
| 8. |
Maurice Greene |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Tibor Gécsek |
Hungary |
|
| 10. |
Steve Backley |
Great Britain |
|
| ¶Bryan Bronson (US) |
voted No. 4 but retroactively banned for doping |
|
|
| 1999 |
| 1. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
91.2% |
| 2. |
Maurice Greene * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Tomáš Dvořák |
Czechia |
|
| 4. |
Michael Johnson * |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Haile Gebrselassie * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 6. |
Wilson Kipketer |
Denmark |
|
| 7. |
Noah Ngeny |
Kenya |
|
| 8. |
Maksim Tarasov |
Russia |
|
| 9. |
Iván Pedroso * |
Cuba |
|
| 10. |
Vyacheslav Voronin |
Russia |
|
| 2000 |
| 1. |
Virgilijus Alekna |
Lithuania |
88.1% |
| 2. |
Michael Johnson * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Maurice Greene * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Robert Korzeniowski |
Poland |
|
| 5. |
Jan Železný |
Czechia |
|
| 6. |
Haile Gebrselassie * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 7. |
Jonathan Edwards |
Great Britain |
|
| 8. |
Iván Pedroso * |
Cuba |
|
| 9. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
|
| 10. |
Anier García |
Cuba |
|
| 2001 |
| 1. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
95.3% |
| 2. |
Maurice Greene * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Jan Železný * |
Czechia |
|
| 4. |
André Bucher |
Switzerland |
|
| 5. |
Jonathan Edwards * |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
John Godina |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Tomáš Dvořák |
Czechia |
|
| 8. |
Félix Sánchez |
Dominican Republic |
|
| 9. |
Brahim Boulami |
Morocco |
|
| 10. |
Koji Murofushi |
Japan |
|
| 2002 |
| 1. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
90.5% |
| 2. |
Khalid Khannouchi |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Félix Sánchez * |
Dominican Republic |
|
| 4. |
Róbert Fazekas |
Hungary |
|
| 5. |
Adam Nelson |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Sergey Makarov |
Russia |
|
| 7. |
Roman Šebrle |
Czechia |
|
| 8. |
Wilson Kipketer |
Kenya |
|
| 9. |
Francisco Fernández |
Spain |
|
| 10. |
Anier García |
Cuba |
|
| ¶Tim Montgomery (US) |
voted No. 6 but retroactively banned for doping |
|
|
| 2003 |
| 1. |
Félix Sánchez * |
Dominican Republic |
88.6% |
| 2. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
|
| 3. |
Saïd Shaheen |
Kenya |
|
| 4. |
Christian Olsson |
Sweden |
|
| 5. |
Allen Johnson |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Kenenisa Bekele |
Ethiopia |
|
| 7. |
Paul Tergat |
Kenya |
|
| 8. |
Robert Korzeniowski |
Poland |
|
| 9. |
Tom Pappas |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Sergey Makarov |
Russia |
|
| 2004 |
| 1. |
Kenenisa Bekele * |
Ethiopia |
92.3% |
| 2. |
Hicham El Guerrouj * |
Morocco |
|
| 3. |
Stefan Holm |
Sweden |
|
| 4. |
Christian Olsson * |
Sweden |
|
| 5. |
Xiang Liu |
China |
|
| 6. |
Saïf Shaheen * |
Qatar |
|
| 7. |
Roman Šebrle |
Czechia |
|
| 8. |
Félix Sánchez * |
Dominican Republic |
|
| 9. |
Dwight Phillips |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Virgilijus Alekna |
Lithuania |
|
| 2005 |
| 1. |
Kenenisa Bekele * |
Ethiopia |
96.1% |
| 2. |
Saïf Shaheen * |
Qatar |
|
| 3. |
Virgilijus Alekna * |
Lithuania |
|
| 4. |
Justin Gatlin |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Bershawn Jackson |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Dwight Phillips * |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Jeremy Wariner |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Rashid Ramzi |
Bahrain |
|
| 9. |
Ladji Doucouré |
France |
|
| 10. |
Bryan Clay |
USA |
|
| ¶Ivan Tikhon (Belarus) |
voted No. 3 but retroactively banned for doping |
|
|
| 2006 |
| 1. |
Asafa Powell |
Jamaica |
99.1% |
| 2. |
Jeremy Wariner * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Virgilijus Alekna * |
Lithuania |
|
| 4. |
Xiang Liu |
China |
|
| 5. |
Kenenisa Bekele * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 6. |
Irving Saladino |
Panama |
|
| 7. |
Saïf Shaheen * |
Qatar |
|
| 8. |
Tyson Gay |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Andreas Thorkildsen |
Norway |
|
| 10. |
Koji Murofushi |
Japan |
|
| 2007 |
| 1. |
Tyson Gay * |
USA |
96.5% |
| 2. |
Jeremy Wariner * |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Kenenisa Bekele * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 4. |
Irving Saladino * |
Panama |
|
| 5. |
Asafa Powell * |
Jamaica |
|
| 6. |
Bernard Lagat |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Xiang Liu * |
China |
|
| 8. |
Reese Hoffa * |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Tero Pitkämäki |
Finland |
|
| 10. |
Haile Gebrselassie |
Ethiopia |
|
| 2008 |
| 1. |
Usain Bolt |
Jamaica |
100.0% |
| 2. |
Kenenisa Bekele * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 3. |
Dayron Robles |
Cuba |
|
| 4. |
Bryan Clay |
USA |
|
| 5. |
LaShawn Merritt |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Haile Gebrselassie * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 7. |
Gerd Kanter |
Estonia |
|
| 8. |
Irving Saladino * |
Panama |
|
| 9. |
Sammy Wanjiru |
Kenya |
|
| 10. |
Andrey Silnov |
Russia |
|
| 2009 |
| 1. |
Usain Bolt * |
Jamaica |
100.0% |
| 2. |
Kenenisa Bekele * |
Ethiopia |
|
| 3. |
Tyson Gay * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
LaShawn Merritt * |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Steve Hooker |
Australia |
|
| 6. |
Dwight Phillips * |
USA |
|
| 7. |
Andreas Thorkildsen * |
Norway |
|
| 8. |
Christian Cantwell |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Sammy Wanjiru * |
Kenya |
|
| 10. |
Trey Hardee |
USA |
|
| 2010 |
| 1. |
David Rudisha |
Kenya |
100.0% |
| 2. |
David Oliver |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Christian Cantwell * |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Tyson Gay * |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Andreas Thorkildsen |
Norway |
|
| 6. |
Teddy Tamgho |
France |
|
| 7. |
Bershawn Jackson |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Jeremy Wariner |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Dwight Phillips * |
USA |
|
| 10. |
Patrick Makau |
Kenya |
|
| 2011 |
| 1. |
David Rudisha * |
Kenya |
82.4% |
| 2. |
Usain Bolt |
Jamaica |
|
| 3. |
Robert Harting |
Germany |
|
| 4. |
Yohan Blake |
Jamaica |
|
| 5. |
Geoffrey Mutai |
Kenya |
|
| 6. |
Mo Farah |
Great Britain |
|
| 7. |
Kirani James |
Grenada |
|
| 8. |
Trey Hardee |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Dayron Robles |
Cuba |
|
| 10. |
Christian Taylor |
USA |
|
| 2012 |
| 1. |
David Rudisha * |
Kenya |
88.1% |
| 2. |
Ashton Eaton |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Usain Bolt * |
Jamaica |
|
| 4. |
Aries Merritt |
USA |
|
| 5. |
Mo Farah * |
Great Britain |
|
| 6. |
Robert Harting * |
Germany |
|
| 7. |
Yohan Blake * |
Jamaica |
|
| 8. |
Krisztián Pars |
Hungary |
|
| 9. |
Kirani James * |
Grenada |
|
| 10. |
Renaud Lavillenie |
France |
|
| 2013 |
| 1. |
Bogdan Bondarenko |
Ukraine |
91.2% |
| 2. |
Usain Bolt * |
Jamaica |
|
| 3. |
Mo Farah * |
Great Britain |
|
| 4. |
Mohamed Aman |
Ethiopia |
|
| 5. |
LaShawn Merritt |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Robert Harting * |
Germany |
|
| 7. |
Ashton Eaton |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Renaud Lavillenie * |
France |
|
| 9. |
Aleksandr Menkov |
Russia |
|
| 10. |
Teddy Tamgho |
France |
|
| 2014 |
| 1. |
Renaud Lavillenie * |
France |
99.4% |
| 2. |
Bogdan Bondarenko * |
Ukraine |
|
| 3. |
Justin Gatlin |
USA |
|
| 4. |
Mutaz Barshim |
Qatar |
|
| 5. |
Robert Harting * |
Germany |
|
| 6. |
Jairus Birech |
Kenya |
|
| 7. |
LaShawn Merritt * |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Nijel Amos |
Botswana |
|
| 9. |
Eliud Kipchoge |
Kenya |
|
| 10. |
Krisztián Pars |
Hungary |
|
| 2015 |
| 1. |
Ashton Eaton |
USA |
89.2% |
| 2. |
Christian Taylor |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Usain Bolt |
Jamaica |
|
| 4. |
Mo Farah |
Great Britain |
|
| 5. |
Paweł Fajdek |
Poland |
|
| 6. |
Asbel Kiprop |
Kenya |
|
| 7. |
Wayde van Niekerk |
South Africa |
|
| 8. |
Justin Gatlin * |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Eliud Kipchoge * |
Kenya |
|
| 10. |
Joe Kovacs |
USA |
|
| 2016 |
| 1. |
Wayde van Niekerk * |
South Africa |
97.8% |
| 2. |
Mo Farah * |
Great Britain |
|
| 3. |
Usain Bolt * |
Jamaica |
|
| 4. |
Eliud Kipchoge * |
Kenya |
|
| 5. |
Ashton Eaton * |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Conseslus Kipruto |
Kenya |
|
| 7. |
Christian Taylor * |
USA |
|
| 8. |
Ryan Crouser |
USA |
|
| 9. |
Omar McLeod |
Jamaica |
|
| 10. |
David Rudisha |
Kenya |
|
| 2017 |
| 1. |
Mutaz Barshim |
Qatar |
89.2% |
| 2. |
Sam Kendricks |
USA |
|
| 3. |
Luvo Manyonga |
South Africa |
|
| 4. |
Wayde van Niekerk* |
South Africa |
|
| 5. |
Christian Taylor* |
USA |
|
| 6. |
Paweł Fajdek |
Poland |
|
| 7. |
Mo Farah* |
Great Britain |
|
| 8. |
Eliud Kipchoge* |
Kenya |
|
| 9. |
Omar McLeod* |
Jamaica |
|
| 10. |
Johannes Vetter |
Germany |
|
| 2018 |
| 1. |
Eliud Kipchoge* |
Kenya |
299 |
96.5% |
| 2. |
Abderrahmane Samba |
Qatar |
278 |
89.7% |
| 3. |
Kevin Mayer |
France |
215 |
69.4% |
| 4. |
Noah Lyles |
USA |
195 |
62.9% |
| 5. |
Tom Walsh |
New Zealand |
152 |
49.0% |
| 6. |
Emmanuel Korir |
Kenya |
103 |
33.2% |
| 7. |
Sergey Shubenkov |
Russia |
96 |
31.0% |
| 8. |
Juan Miguel Echevarría |
Cuba |
94 |
30.3% |
| 9. |
Timothy Cheruiyot |
Kenya |
90 |
29.0% |
| 10. |
Mutaz Barshim* |
Qatar |
68 |
21.9% |
| 2019 |
| 1. |
Karsten Warholm |
Norway |
357 |
99.2% |
| 2. |
Noah Lyles* |
USA |
281 |
78.1% |
| 3. |
Daniel Ståhl |
Sweden |
202 |
56.1% |
| 4. |
Steven Gardiner |
Bahamas |
199 |
55.3% |
| 5. |
Timothy Cheruiyot* |
Kenya |
183 |
50.8% |
| 6. |
Sam Kendricks |
USA |
166 |
46.1% |
| 7. |
Donavan Brazier |
USA |
155 |
43.1% |
| 8. |
Christian Coleman |
USA |
149 |
41.4% |
| 9. |
Rai Benjamin |
USA |
73 |
20.3% |
| 10. |
Christian Taylor |
USA |
64 |
17.8% |
| 2020 |
| No normal season or AOY vote due to COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2021 |
| 1. |
Ryan Crouser |
USA |
344 |
98.3% |
| 2. |
Karsten Warholm* |
Norway |
321 |
91.7% |
| 3. |
Mondo Duplantis |
Sweden |
240 |
68.6% |
| 4. |
Damian Warner |
Canada |
224 |
64.0% |
| 5. |
Daniel Ståhl* |
Sweden |
180 |
51.4% |
| 6. |
Jakob Ingebrigtsen |
Norway |
135 |
38.6% |
| 7. |
Rai Benjamin* |
USA |
118 |
33.7% |
| 8. |
Johannes Vetter |
Germany |
102 |
29.1% |
| 9. |
Grant Holloway |
USA |
76 |
21.7% |
| 10. |
Pedro Pichardo |
Portugal |
57 |
16.3% |
| 2022 |
| 1. |
Mondo Duplantis* |
Sweden |
306 |
98.7% |
| 2. |
Alison dos Santos |
Brazil |
245 |
79.0% |
| 3. |
Eliud Kipchoge |
Kenya |
233 |
75.2% |
| 4. |
Noah Lyles |
USA |
228 |
73.5% |
| 5. |
Jakob Ingebrigtsen* |
Norway |
167 |
53.9% |
| 6. |
Ryan Crouser* |
USA |
138 |
44.5% |
| 7. |
Kristjan Čeh |
Slovenia |
96 |
31.0% |
| 8. |
Soufiane El Bakkali |
Morocco |
85 |
27.4% |
| 9. |
Joe Kovacs |
USA |
57 |
18.4% |
| 10. |
Fred Kerley |
USA |
48 |
15.5% |
| 2023 |
| 1. |
Ryan Crouser* |
USA |
301 |
94.1% |
| 2. |
Mondo Duplantis* |
Sweden |
300 |
93.8% |
| 3. |
Kelvin Kiptum |
Kenya |
234 |
73.1% |
| 4. |
Noah Lyles* |
USA |
217 |
67.8% |
| 5. |
Jakob Ingebrigtsen* |
Norway |
207 |
64.7% |
| 6. |
Soufiane El Bakkali* |
Morocco |
123 |
38.4% |
| 7. |
Karsten Warholm |
Norway |
116 |
36.2% |
| 8. |
Pierce LePage |
Canada |
115 |
35.9% |
| 9. |
Álvaro Martín |
Spain |
61 |
19.1% |
| 10. |
Miltiádis Tentóglou |
Greece |
43 |
13.4% |