TRACK & FIELD
These articles were supplied by World Athletics , and have been adapted slightly for use here .
Best in the World in 2022
World Champions and World Record-breakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis were recently named the World Athletes of the Year for 2022 , in the annual World Athletics Awards , and it is remarkable how similar their athletic careers are turning out .
In December , World Athletics announced that women ’ s 400m hurdles Olympic and World Champion , Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the USA , and men ’ s pole vault Olympic and World Champion , Mondo Duplantis , have been selected by the global athletics body as its World Athletes of the Year . McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis both broke the World Record in their respective disciplines on more than one occasion this year , with their final record-breaking performances coming at the World Championships in Eugene , Oregon , in the USA , as they both claimed their first senior World Championship titles .
Interestingly , the two athletes have actually enjoyed a remarkably similar path to stardom . Both struck gold at the 2015 World U18 Championships in Cali , Colombia , set World U18 Bests and World U20 Records , competed at senior major championships while still teenagers , won the Rising Star accolade at the 2018 World Athletics Awards , earned silver at the 2019 World Championships , then went on to win Olympic gold in 2021 and World Champs gold in 2022 , and both have set numerous World Records in their respective disciplines .
The World Athletics Awards also see the Rising Stars of the year rewarded for their breakthrough performances , and this saw Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos and US sprinter Erriyon Knighton deservedly walk off with this accolade . Vilagos successfully defended her Under-20 ( U20 ) javelin World Title , doing so with a championship record of 63.52m and breaking the European U20 Record in the process . Less than three months later , she claimed silver at the senior European Championships in Munich .
Knighton , meanwhile , has been named Rising Star for the second year in a row . He clocked a 200m lifetime best of 19.49 in April , which couldn ’ t be ratified as a World U20 Record , but he went on to break the world mark officially at the US Championships , where he ran 19.69 . He followed that with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Oregon , then went on to achieve victories on the Continental Tour and Diamond League circuit . Remarkably , both Rising Stars will still be U20 athletes for 2023 .
Images : PhilippeFitte / World Athletics & courtesy PUMA , World Athletics
The winners at the World Athletics Athlete of the Year Awards , from left : Mondo Duplantis , Adriana Vilagos , World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe , Prince Albert of Monaco , Sydney McLaughlin- Levrone and Erriyon Knighton
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