TRACK & FIELD
Happy with a great year ’ s work at the post-awards press conference improvement there . I think a lot of it comes down to my coach and his decision , and he ’ s still figuring out what to do . I think we ’ re looking at the schedule and what makes sense , and what this year ’ s goals are . When we come to a decision , we ’ ll go for it all the way .”
“ That was a journey in and of itself too , but we just started slowly chipping away at the things we had to improve and put it all together . Bobby has helped me mentally grow , not just as an athlete but as a woman – with my confidence , my strengths , my weaknesses . It translates through our training into competitions , and has shown itself in the performances we ’ ve had .”
She has also benefitted from having heptathlon World Record-holder and multiple World and Olympic Champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee as a mentor . “ Bobby compares me to Jackie all the time , and she has truly spoken into my life over the past two years while I ’ ve been working with Bobby . The influence she has had on me , and the encouragement and lessons she has taught me , I ’ m truly so grateful for what she has done in the sport and for being a mentor .”
Natural Speed
One of the similarities between McLaughlin-Levrone and Joyner-Kersee is their all-round ability . Not only does McLaughlin-Levrone excel in hurdling events , but she is highly competitive in flat sprints too . In 2018 , at the age of 18 , she set PBs of 50.07 for 400m , 22.39 for 200m and clocked a wind-assisted 11.08 for 100m . During the indoor season that year , she also ran 22.68 for 200m and 50.36 for 400m . She also happens to be one of the best relay runners in the world . At the World Championships last year , she clocked a 47.91 split to anchor the USA to gold in the 4x400m . Even factoring in the usual 0.7-1.0 benefit for a rolling start , McLaughlin-Levrone ’ s speed suggests she could contend for major titles in the 400m flat , and that is something she is considering , but not yet committed to .
“ Both the 400m flat and 400m hurdles are amazing options ,” she says . “ There ’ s still so much to be done in the 400m hurdles , but I also haven ’ t run the 400m truly competitively since college , so there ’ s room for
Even if she sticks to her specialist event , she won ’ t be lacking in motivation . “ There ’ s always more that can be done ,” she says . “ I look at that World Champs final , and as wonderful as it was , there are still about three or four mistakes that I made . Bobby has told me multiple times that I could have done better , so there ’ s room to grow in all things . I ’ m just really never satisfied , but I just want to be healthy and happy , and leave whatever I have on the track . As long as I do that , I ’ ll be grateful .”
Scintillating Sydney
When US sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone crossed the line in 50.68 in the final of the women ’ s 400m hurdles at the 2022 World Championships in the USA , she not only became the only woman ever to break 51 seconds in the event and improved her own World Record substantially – it was 51.41 – but also posted one of the greatest track World Records of all time , statistically speaking .
Mondo Duplantis
Men ’ s World Athlete of the Year
BY JESS WHITTINGTON FOR WORLD ATHLETICS
60
Mondo Duplantis Soaring to yet another six-metre clearance in 2022
ISSUE 156 | www . modernathlete . co . za
Mondo Duplantis started 2022 with some clear aims : To win World Titles both indoors and outdoors , and improve his own World Records in both formats of the sport . The Swedish pole vault prodigy achieved it all , setting three World Records , winning two World Champs titles , winning 18 of his 19 competitions , and vaulting six metres or higher 23 times , and getting those World Records while gaining his global gold medals is something he describes as “ the cherry on top .” And it ’ s those achievements – together with his 22 six-metre-plus clearances , Wanda Diamond Trophy win and European Championships victory – that led to him being named World Athlete of the Year for the second time at the World Athletics Awards 2022 .