World Athletics won't name an AOY but we will - Update: Kelvin Kiptum and Faith Kipyegon are our AOYs

Related, but unrelated, should I present awards for different shoetubes?

Best Shoetube Video

Best Shoetube Director

Best Shoetube Cinematography

Best Shoetube Editing

Best Shoetube Actor

Best Shoetube Actress

Best Shoetube Supporting Actor

Best Shoetube Supporting Actress

Best Shoetube Score

Best Shoetube Song

Best Shoetube Production Design

Best Shoetube Visual Effects

Best International Shoetube Video

Some of my favorite races:

Hassan winning London

Kerr over Jakob at WC 1500

Mu stumbling and rallying to advance

Jakob mile win over Goose at Pre

Jakob 3000m win over Kejelcha at Pre

Mu winning 800m at Pre

Favorite thread was probably all the morons who said they would never cheer for Mu again and then they hopped right back on the bandwagon.

The Great Russell Wilson thread.

That thread actually began in July 2022.

And obviously in number 3 and 5. Awesome job!

Put Courtney Dewaulter's 2023 summer into its own category.

The oldest 100 miler and the "Boston Marathon" of 100 miles, Western States, 1st in a new course record.

3 weeks later. One of the toughest mountain 100s, Hardrock, 1st in a new course record.

6 weeks later, the "World Championships" of mountain 100 miles, UTMB, 1st and she already owns the course record.

Unlike, WA we have decided we are going to hand out an AOY award to one 1 man and 1 woman. Here our our finalists. We want your vote:

letsrun.com

Introducing the Nominees for 2023 LetsRun Athlete of the Year

LetsRun.com

After World Athletics chose not to name a single athlete of the year, we're stepping in and handing out our own award. Meet the finalists and give us your vote. Our two winners - one man and one woman - will be announced on M...

Link:www.letsrun.com/news/2023/12/introduci...

Ultras are pathetic - for those with no talent.

Kelvin Kiptum

Sifan Hassan

I never expected to call Ingebrigtsen underrated, but I'm shocked he didn't make the top four here.

The guy ran a 2-mile time clearly superior to Komen's legendary 3k record, broke El Guerrouj's 2k world best by 1.5 seconds, ran 3:27 twice, and got a gold and silver medal at Worlds. It was the best season by a middle-distance runner in probably 20 years.

Lol, and a 3:43 mile...

I voted for Crouser and Kipyegon. The Kipyegon pick doesn't need explanation, so here's why I think Crouser deserves the men's award over Mondo and Kiptum (no offense to Lyles, but he lost too many races and didn't break any world records, so I don't think he's in contention):

1. Crouser's world record is the most impressive mark compared to Mondo and Kiptum. Crouser's WR is 1.4% better than the second-best performer all-time. Mondo's WR is 1.1% better, and Kiptum's WR is 0.5% better.
2. According to the World Athletics scoring tables, Crouser's top two marks this year were better than the top two marks from Mondo and Kiptum. In point value, Crouser's top two marks were 1334 and 1331, Mondo's were 1330 and 1328, and Kiptum's were 1322 and 1307. So Crouser's second-best mark was worth more points than the best mark produced by Mondo and Kiptum.
3. Improved technology is a major factor in Kiptum's times. That's not the case with Crouser. I haven't heard about any advancements in the metal used to make the shot in the last few years, and the weight of the shot hasn't changed since 1896.
4. Both Crouser and Mondo lost once, but Mondo's loss was much worse. Crouser got 2nd and barely lost to another all-time great; Mondo got 4th and was beaten handily. Crouser's losing throw of 22.91 has only been matched or exceeded by four men in history. In fact, it would have won every single Olympic competition in history (only Crouser himself threw better in Tokyo). In contrast, over 200 men in history have vaulted higher than Mondo's losing vault of 5.72.
5. Crouser regularly faced and beat the second-best shot putter of all time. Kiptum defeated strong competition, but he never faced the marathon GOAT, Kipchoge.
6. A world championship gold is a higher achievement than a world marathon major win. It just is.
7. Crouser invented a new technique. You rarely see innovation in the field events (the Fosbury Flop in the high jump is over 55 years old!), so Crouser deserves major kudos for that.
8. Crouser won a world championship with two blood clots in his leg. That's insane. Blood clots can be fatal! People with blood clots are not supposed to be flying halfway around the world and engaging in world-class athletic competition.

Likewise I'm astonished. I voted Kipyegon and Crouser but it would have been for Jakob.

Jakob is being punished for being Jakob. Anyone else with the same results would unquestionably have been finalist if not favorite. For example, how is Hassan excused for going 0-3 at worlds but Jakob is dumped all the way out of contention via losing one very tight race.

I think rojo hacked into jgault's account. Rojoesque error in the thread title.

Agree. I voted Crouser Kipyegon as well but would have voted for Jakob if it was possible. And I'm a Jakob antifan if anything.