Awards, phew: Downcast Lyles rues changes to World Athlete of the Year awards

This is Deji Ogeyingbo’s piece on the 2023 AOY World Athletics Awards and the challenges when you change something that people really like. 

Awards, phew: Downcast Lyles rues changes to World Athlete of the Year awards

Last year, Swedish athlete Mondo Duplantis picked up the gong for the best male athlete of the year in Monaco- the second time he won. US sprinter Noah Lyles sat at home as he watched on, knowing fully well he would have to do the unthinkable in 2023 to stand a chance to win the award. No sprinter has won the award since Usain Bolt last snagged it in 2016.

Then, the Jamaican won three Gold at the Rio Olympics. So, the benchmark had been set. Win three Gold in Budapest, and barring any change in rules, Lyles would become the athlete of the year. Except, world athletics had other plans.

World Athletics divided its World Athlete of the Year awards into three categories for the first time — men’s and women’s track, field, and out-of-stadium events. Previously, World Athletics named one man’s and one women’s Athlete of the Year across all events. A change was made for this year after feedback was received during the voting process. The problem with that was they didn’t inform the nominees as it all came out like a bolt in the blue.

After an initial selection of 11 male and 11 female nominees, the five finalists for both the men’s and women’s World Athletes of the Year awards were announced on 13-14 November. Lyles was up against the likes of Neeraj Chopra, last year’s winner Duplantis, fellow American Ryan Crouser, and newly minted marathon record holder, Kelvin Kiptum.

Nowhere in the communique was it stated that the awards will now be divided into three categories. Still, like it’s done in other sports, there should have been an overall winner- one that becomes the undisputed king, even amongst his peers. Surely, it must have irked Lyles.

Lyles, who swept 100m, 200m, and 4x100m titles at August’s world championships, became the first American to win a Male Athlete of the Year (Track) award since decathlete Ashton Eaton in 2015. One of his goals has been to win the award. He felt let down by the process. Perhaps he wanted to either win it or lose it, not share it with two other persons. In this case, Duplantis and Kiptum won the field and out-of-track…