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World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has responded to American sprint king Noah Lyles over his criticism of the decision to split the 2023 World Athlete of the Year awards
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has claimed that there was consultation with athletes before the controversial decision to split the 2023 Athlete of the Year awards into three.
The 10 finalists (five men and as many women) and observers were caught by surprise when World Athletics decided against selecting one winner in the men’s and women’s categories during last Monday’s gala in Monaco and instead feted six finalists (three men and as many women) while categorising them into ‘track, field and out of stadia.’
The decision drew the ire of world 100m and 200m champion Noah Lyles who claimed it was ill informed and lacked respect for athletes and the voting public, since they should at least have been informed beforehand.
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06:32 - 15.12.2023
ATHLETICS Noah Lyles doubles down on his criticism of 2023 World Athlete of the Year Awards debacle
American sprint king Noah Lyles has continued his criticism over how World Athletics handled the 2023 World Athlete of the Year Awards.
However, Coe claims to be surprised by the reaction, insisting there were talks with all those concerned before the decision was arrived at.
“It is interesting because the athletes that I spoke to and that we communicated to, along with athletes’ representatives and managers all wanted to impress upon us that the sport wasn’t just one discipline,” Coe to told Nation Sport.
“And they were very keen, Noah himself was very keen, to have our sport recognised and to have different disciplines reflected and that is what we tried to do.”
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14:42 - 16.12.2023
ATHLETICS Michael Johnson calls out World Athletics over ‘flawed & disrespectful’ Athlete of the Year Awards decision
American sprint legend Michael Johnson has continued his criticism over what he terms a flawed and disrespectful approach by World Athletics to split the 2023 Athlete of the Year awards
Lyles was awarded Male Athlete of the Year (Track), last year’s winner Mondo Duplantis awarded Male Athlete of the Year (Field) while Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum was named male Athlete of the Year (Out of Stadia).
The women’s category had Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon winning the ‘track’ award while Yulimar Rojas and Tigist Assefa were handed women’s field and out of stadia awards respectively.
“I believe I found the right words for what happened at the AOY [Athlete of the Year] awards. When they decided to split the award without telling any of us, including the fans that voted. It made me feel that none of our achievements were good enough to be AOY,” Lyles wrote on X.
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16:00 - 15.12.2023
ATHLETICS Faith Kipyegon reveals who she dedicates World Athlete of the Year Award to
Multiple world and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon has given reasons why her 2023 World Athlete of the Year Award is dedicated to all middle-distance runners in the world
“I’m guessing that was not WA’s [World Athletics] goal but that is how it made me feel. I do believe that there should be more awards included in the event but not with exclusion of the AOY award.
“I wish they would have waited until next year to change the format of the awards or not change it in the middle of the process.
“I also wish World Athletics would have had a conversation with the athletes so we could come up with a more structured plan.”
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