NEWS
Stellar Performers
Faith Kipyegon set World Records at an incredible three distances during a season in which she also achieved a golden double at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 . First , the 29-yearold Kenyan improved the 1500m World Record to 3:49.11 in Florence , Italy , taking almost a full second off the previous mark . Just one week later , and despite having raced the 5000m just twice before , she improved the World Record for that event , too , clocking 14:05.20 in Paris , France , to shave 1.42 seconds from the old record . Her third World Record came in Monaco , where she smashed the previous mile mark by five seconds , clocking 4:07.64 . Then , in Budapest , she won her third senior 1500m World Title and her first 5000m World crown .
Noah Lyles also achieved an individual title double at the World Championships in Budapest , winning 100m gold and retaining his 200m title , before forming part of the USA ’ s victorious 4x100m team . The 26-yearold won the 100m in 9.83 – which saw him end the season as joint world leader – and the 200m in 19.52 . He went even faster at the Diamond League meeting in London , clocking 19.47 to maintain his position as 200m world leader for the sixth consecutive year , during a season in which he was undefeated in six 200m finals .
Yulimar Rojas won her fourth outdoor World Title in Budapest , and the 28-year-old Venezuelan also claimed her third consecutive Diamond League trophy . Despite being in eighth place going into the final round at the World Championships , the World Record-holder kept her cool and managed to soar 15.08m with her final attempt , moving her into the lead by eight centimetres and securing herself an eighth global gold medal . Then , at the Diamond League Final in Eugene , she improved her world lead to 15.35m for a mark just 39cm off her own World Record .
Mondo Duplantis improved his both indoors and outdoors pole vault World Records in 2023 , while he also retained the World Title and achieved 20 clearances of six metres or higher . Indoors , the 24-year-old Swede added a centimetre to his previous outright best , clearing 6.22m in Clermont- Ferrand , France . During the outdoor season , he secured his second consecutive World Champs title in Budapest and then won his third Wanda Diamond League trophy with a clearance of 6.23m on his first attempt to better his World Record by another centimetre .
The moment of the year for Tigist Assefa came at the BMW Berlin Marathon in September , when the 27-year-old Ethiopian ran 2:11:53 , smashing the World Record by two minutes and 14 seconds , and achieving the biggest single improvement on the mark for 40 years . She finished almost six minutes ahead of her nearest rival after clocking 1:06:20 for the first half and an even faster 1:05:33 for the second half – a time that just seven women have beaten this year in a standalone half marathon !
Kelvin Kiptum also achieved his World Record in a World Athletics Platinum Label road race , running 2:00:35 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October . Becoming the first athlete to break 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon , the 24-year-old Kenyan won the race by almost three and a half minutes , and took 34 seconds off Eliud Kipchoge ’ s previous World Record . Just one year on from his marathon debut , Kiptum now has three of the seven fastest times in history to his name , having also won the TCS London Marathon in April in 2:01:25 .
Rising Stars of 2023
Former World U20 gold medallists Faith Cherotich and Emmanuel Wanyonyi also made their mark on the senior stage in 2023 . The Kenyan teenagers both won medals at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest , with Cherotich claiming bronze in the 3000m steeplechase and Wanyonyi securing silver in the 800m .
Cherotich , who won World U20 bronze in 2021 and gold in 2022 , also moved to second on the World U20 all-time list with 8:59.65 to finish third in the Diamond League Final in Eugene , while she finished fourth in the U20 race at the World Cross Country Championships . As well as his World Champs silver medal , 2021 World U20 gold medallist Wanyonyi became Diamond League champion in 2023 , claiming the trophy in a PB of 1:42.80 . He also won Diamond League races in Rabat , Paris and Xiamen and formed part of Kenya ’ s victorious World Cross Country mixed relay team .
More Awards to Celebrate
Ethiopia ’ s 10,000m World Champs silver medallist Letesenbet Gidey has been named winner of the International Fair Play Award , for her fair play moment at the World Championships in Budapest . After securing the silver medal , Gidey went back to comfort Netherlands ’ Sifan Hassan , who had dramatically fallen in the home straight while sprinting for the finish line , which cost her a medal .
Swiss coach Laurent Meuwly has received the Coaching Achievement Award . He has dedicated almost three decades to guiding athletes , having started coaching at the age of just 18 , and is now head of sprinting , hurdles and relays in the Netherlands , where he counts World 400m Hurdles Champion Femke Bol amongst his athletes . In 2023 , not only did Meuwly help to guide Bol to her World Title , but their work saw the Dutch star improve her European record to 51.45 – the third-fastest performance of all time .
Athletics Australia has been named as winner of the Member Federation Award , for distinguishing itself in its accomplishments and positively contributed to the growth and profile of the sport . Australia started 2023 by hosting the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst , and amongst other honours , enjoyed its best ever World Championships in Budapest , claiming a total of six medals and finishing joint eighth on the overall placing table .
Italian photographer Mattia Ozbot ’ s image of German decathlete Leo Neugebauer competing in the pole vault event at the World Championships has been selected as the World Athletics Photograph of the Year . Meanwhile , President of the Togolese Athletics Federation , Falilatou Tchanile-Salifou , has been named Woman of the Year , in recognition of her outstanding leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing women ’ s rights and fostering gender equality in sport in her country .
The Abbott World Marathon Majors has been awarded the President ’ s Award , in recognition of not only showcasing the world ’ s best elite road runners , but also catering to the masses , with each race welcoming thousands of recreational runners every year . Since 1970 , the race directors of these six renowned marathons – Tokyo , Boston , London , Berlin , Chicago and New York – have pioneered the mass running movement that has now become the number one recreational sport in the world , and their investment in anti-doping , sustainability and reviving community-based running coming out of the global pandemic has also been inspirational .
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