Every year, the World Athletics Organization nominates a handful of track and field athletes as some of the star performers of the year. This time, the track world has some of the most talented athletes emerge as important nominations, but the process to determine the final winner has shifted a bit.
Just like the past few years, there will be a three-way process to determine the finalists in each category. However, instead of one final winner, the end of the voting process—by the World Athletics Council, the World Athletics Family, and fans—will determine two finalists in each category.
In the end, registered members of the Inside Track family will get to choose the final winners of each category. This means that this year, the public seems to have more say in determining the best athletes across various domains.
So far, we have some stars waiting for the highest number of votes to stand a chance to win the prestigious title. From Noah Lyles to Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men’s category and Gabby Thomas to Faith Kipyegon in the women’s, the contenders for each category are top-notch.
The World Athletics also announced a bunch of other award categories, including the Rising Star Award, Coaching Achievement Award, Woman of the Year, Photograph of the Year, Member Federation Award, and President’s Award.
Given the changes in the selection process that would go on to determine the winners, one might have questions about choosing a deserving athlete. Would the candidate win on account of their achievements and accolades, or is there a possibility of rigging the system?
In an era of social media where consistent posting and keeping up with trends is the only way to keep the algorithm in one’s favor, it can be a difficult factor for every athlete to upkeep. Fans end up expecting sportspersons to not only excel in their domain but also maintain a favorable personality outside their sport. As a result, several picks amongst athletes across various disciplines lean towards their online presence, personality, and popularity.
An ongoing debate surrounding the World Athletics’ system of the Track Athlete of the Year nominations has thus emerged. While having several members of a dedicated committee work together with fans might result in a balanced outcome, this year’s slight twist to the process raises questions about determining the true winner.
Currently, the social media posts for the athlete nominees are up on all platforms on the World Athletics’ official accounts. Every like will count as a vote, and out of the six nominees in men and women, the competition is close.
Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino is currently leading the roster for the Female Track Athlete of the Year with over 50,000 likes on Instagram alone. Meanwhile, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo is leading the list for the Male Track Athlete of the Year with over 40,000 votes on Instagram.
However, fans have argued that many of the other nominees deserve higher votes owing to their achievements this year. For example, there’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who broke her own world record for the 400m hurdles with a jaw-dropping 50.37s. Her Olympic gold this year at multiple events was a testament to her dominance.
Similarly, the online war between the preferences for Noah Lyles and Tebogo has also raised questions about the popularity versus achievements debate. One could argue that the Botswanian absolutely deserves to be on top of the list given his back-to-back wins and podium finishes in the Diamond Leagues post-Olympics, combined with his Olympic gold and world record at the 300m sprint.
On the other hand, Lyles already proved his dominance with the 2023 world title, his Olympic 100m gold, a stellar season at the Indoor track events, and many other pre-Olympics meet victories that put him on top of the roster.
While the winner takes it all in the end, the change in process and the extra addition of athletes’ persona being highlighted adds a new perspective to such awards. It will be interesting to see who emerges as the winner in all these categories and fans’ reactions surrounding it.
