1. A Frenchman could finish 2014 ranked number one in the 110 hurdles and the U.S. could have only one performance in the top-10. Between Oliver, Richardson and Merritt, the U.S. domination in the men's 110 hurdles was comparable only to the Kenyan domination in the steeple. 2014 could go down as the first year in decades that a U.S. hurdler didn't at least run 13 flat. Has there ever been a bigger fall from grace?
2. Just 2 years ago if you had told me that arguably the 3 best milers in the world would be Europeans and 2 of them would be Swedish; I would say you have been snorting Kool Aid. A year ago, I thought Faith Kipyegon and Genzebe Dibaba would be running the first sub-3:55s since the 1990s and two of the three athletes name above were barely on the radar screen.
3. In the 100/200/400 only one Jamaican athlete, male or female is ranked in the top-3; just last year, Jamaica had the 2 best times in 100/200 male and female and it wasn't much difference the year before that and the year before that and the year before that, etc. Labeled the savior of our sport, Usain Bolt has gotten progressively slower since 2009. Bolt's average over his last 10 races is only 9.92. the Jamaican pipeline seems almost empty, Jamaica only has one athlete ranked on the top-10 junior list in the 100/200/400 and lost to Japan in 4x1 at world juniors. Is Jamaica a factory like the U.S. or Kenya for example or was the Jamaican juggernaut built upon a couple of exceptional athletes who just happen to be born a few years apart?
4. An American male could end 2014 ranked number one in the 10,000 and 3 Americans could be ranked in the top-3 in the 5,000. I don't think this has happened in the history of those event and certainly not since the Africans came on the scene.
5. 20 year old Ajee Wilson late in the season is ranked number one in the 800m. Nobody is surprised that the world youth and junior champ is doing well, but I doubt very few people suspected she could end the year ranked number one. Before anyone says 1:57.6 wouldn’t make the top-5 in most years, well just about all of the women who have run faster in the last couple of years, Semenya, Niyonsaba, Jelimo, Magiso, the Russians and the North Africans are pretty much MIA and/or can't come within seconds of their PRs. Perhaps 1:57 is the new 1:55.
6. 2014 could end with the top ranked female in the 100 and 200 not named Felix, Campbell-Brown, Fraser-Pryce or Jeter. Perhaps this does not seem too significant, but it has not happened in nearly 8 years that one those 4 athletes haven't been ranked number one in the short sprints.
7. 2014 could be the first time in nearly a decade that the name Bekele, Dibaba or Defar is not ranked number one in any track event, in fact not even ranked in the top-10.
8. 2014 could end with 2 Dutch athletes ranked number one in two events, Sifan Hassan in the 1500 and Dafne Schippers in the 200m. Except for Fanny Blankers-Koen from 1940s, I can't recall any Dutch athlete that was more than a bleep on the radar. No disrespect to Susan Kuijken.
9. Schippers ran close to a 22 flat 200m into the wind; this is probably the most underrated performance so far this year and Tori Bowie ran 10.80 100m and 22.18 in the 200m. Last year neither of these athletes were ranked in either of those events, one was heptathlete and the other a long jumper. I doubt anyone saw this coming and both athletes have had enough good performances to not be labeled a fluke.
10. Several American junior athletes. I am not too surprised by Trayvon Bromell's 9.97 into a 1.8 wind. Trayvon ran a windy 9.9 last year and windy 9.77 in May this year. I am not too surprised by Mary Cain's 3K world jr victory, it was an exciting race, but I expected her to win. It would have been more interesting if Cain had ran the 800, 1500 or 5000. The 2 absolute biggest surprises of 2014 is 16 year old Kaylin Whitney's 11.10, which she backed up with an equally impressive 22.49 200m. At age 16 Kaylin Whitney finished the season with the best junior time in the 100 and 200. This is something even Marion Jones didn’t accomplish. At age 14 Sydney McLaughlin ran 55.63 in one the toughest events in track & field, the 400H. If Sydney knew how to hurdle with her right leg, as 9th grader she would have beaten the NCAA champ Shamier Little at USA JrNats. Btw, with a 51.06 400m and 55.07 400H PRs, Little is not is no slouch herself. Sydney is also an outstanding 100h and 400m sprinter. Sydney will be eligible to compete in world youth next year and will have 2 opportunities for world juniors.