Track & Field News has been formally choosing an Athlete Of The Year since ’59. Our Men’s World Rankings began with the ’47 season, but for that year through the ’58 campaign, the concept of an AOY didn’t exist. The Women’s AOY was added to the mix in ’74.
The all-time women’s No. 1s, with the event(s) in which they made the World Rankings that year (if the events are out of normal event order, it reflects the existence of a “primary” discipline):
| 1970s | ||
| 1974 | Irena Szewińska (Poland) | 100, 200, 400 |
| 1975 | Faina Melnik (Soviet Union) | Shot, Discus |
| 1976 | Tatyana Kazankina (Soviet Union) | 800, 1500/Mile |
| 1977 | Rosi Ackermann (East Germany) | High Jump |
| 1978 | Marita Koch (East Germany) | 100, 200, 400 |
| 1979 | Marita Koch (East Germany) | 100, 200, 400 |
| 1980s | ||
| 1980 | Ilona Briesenick (East Germany) | Shot |
| 1981 | Evelyn Ashford (USA) | 100, 200 |
| 1982 | Marita Koch (East Germany) | 100, 200, 400 |
| 1983 | Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia) | 200, 400, 800 |
| 1984 | Evelyn Ashford (USA) | 100 |
| 1985 | Marita Koch (East Germany) | 100, 200, 400 |
| 1986 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | Heptathlon, Long Jump |
| 1987 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | Heptathlon, 100 Hurdles, LJ |
| 1988 | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 100, 200 |
| 1989 | Ana Quirós (Cuba) | 400, 800 |
| 1990s | ||
| 1990 | Merlene Ottey (Jamaica) | 100, 200 |
| 1991 | Heike Henkel (Germany) | High Jump |
| 1992 | Heike Drechsler (Germany) | Long Jump |
| 1993 | Junxia Wang (China) | 1500/Mile, 10,000, Marathon |
| 1994 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | Hept, 100H, Long Jump |
| 1995 | Sonia O’Sullivan (Ireland) | 1500/Mile, 5000 |
| 1996 | Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) | 800, 1500/Mile |
| 1997 | Marion Jones (USA) | 100, 200 |
| 1998 | Marion Jones (USA) | 100, 200, Long Jump |
| 1999 | Gabriela Szabo (Romania) | 1500/Mile, 5000 |
| 2000s | ||
| 2000 | Stacy Dragila (USA) | Pole Vault |
| 2001 | Stacy Dragila (USA) | Pole Vault |
| 2002 | Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) | Marathon, 5000, 10,000 |
| 2003 | Maria Mutola (Mozambique) | 800 |
| 2004 | Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia) | Pole Vault |
| 2005 | Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia) | Pole Vault |
| 2006 | Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) | 400, 200 |
| 2007 | Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) | 5000, 10,000 |
| 2008 | Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) | 5000, 10,000 |
| 2009 | Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) | 400, 200 |
| 2010s | ||
| 2010 | Blanka Vlašić (Croatia) | High Jump |
| 2011 | Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) | 5000, 10,000 |
| 2012 | Valerie Adams (New Zealand) | Shot |
| 2013 | Valerie Adams (New Zealand) | Shot |
| 2014 | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) | Hammer |
| 2015 | Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) | 1500, 5000 |
| 2016 | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) | Hammer |
| 2017 | Anita Włodarczyk (Poland) | Hammer |
| 2018 | Caster Semenya (South Africa) | 400, 800, 1500 |
| 2019 | Dalilah Muhammad (USA) | 400 Hurdles |
| 2020s | ||
| 2020 | no voting done; triple jumper Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) named “MVP” | |
| 2021 | Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) | 100, 200 |
| 2022 | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) | 400 Hurdles |
* = Marion Jones also led the actual voting in ’00, but was retroatively stripped of the AOY honor after her drug-use testimony; many believe—even though there’s no hard evidence—that she was also using in her AOY seasons of ’97 & ’98, something to which she has not admitted.
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