Roy Slaven and HGNelson, the alter egos of comedians John Doyle and Greg Pickaver, like to remind us that too much exercise is hardly enough.
Australians have chuckled approvingly at the two self-proclaimed sports gurus for years. Her daily summaries of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games brought her to a wider audience. One can guess that most international visitors who sampled the couple’s offerings back then had a hard time deciding whether these two guys were serious or just pissing.
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Anyway, at a time of national concern over whether Sydney and Australia could deliver great games, Roy and HG were just damn funny. People tend to laugh a bit when they’re nervous and Australians have been nervous since the days the games opened when our best athletics medal hope caught a downpour by the closing ceremony as they lit the torch.
As the annual rankings slowly trickle out, at the other end of the spectrum is the question of how much exercise is enough. How little sport is too little? How much competition do you have to have to be able to identify a season?
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The question can be put to Sydney McLaughlin, whose actions at the World Championships in Eugene stunned us all. Her otherworldly world record of 50.68 seconds in the 400m hurdles final was the most impressive individual performance of a championship that set two other world records – Mondo Duplantis’ 6.21 to win the gold medal in the pole vault and Tobi Amusan’s 12 .12 in the 100 hurdles.
As always, my most authoritative opinion on ranking matters comes from Track & Field News. The self-proclaimed – and few would argue – the Bible of the Sport presented its annual rankings in a bumper edition of the magazine. Today, the good oil trickles out of the World Wide Web on a daily basis.
On day one, Duplantis was voted Men’s Athlete of the Year by the magazine’s rankings. No surprise.
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Sydney McLaughlin’s choice as the female AOY is in some ways just as predictable. Two world records – one in the US national championships and selections, the other in winning the gold medal in the world championships – is a very strong argument.
Except for the brevity of the 2022 McLaughlin season, as T&FN’s own analysis noted.
“She didn’t race often but when she did – wow!” read the quote, before further revealing:
“In the history of our women’s AOY award, which dates back to the 1974 season, nobody has competed so rarely. . . than McLaughlin in 2022.”
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Not counting runs (US or Worlds), McLaughlin only competed six times, once as a foray into the hurdles (winning in 12.75) and another time as the anchor leg for the gold-medal US quartet at the Worlds. In contrast, her four 400 hurdle finals produced two world records and the world’s first, second, fifth, and sixth fastest performances of all time.
No Diamond League appearances and only one outside the US (a post-Eugene 51.68 in Hungary).
Gold, pure gold McLaughlin’s season may have been, but it was enough to warrant a season. Yes, the AOY panel decided, while acknowledging that it was a caveat worthy of comment.
Compare McLaughlin’s abridged season to the season put together by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price, another AOY contender. The almost incomparable Fraser-Price lost just once in a year that saw her race in Africa (Nairobi), Europe, home in Jamaica, in Eugene and then back to Europe again for the highlights of the Diamond League meetings.
Fraser-Price ran in five Diamond Leagues, including Paris, Monaco, Brussels and Zurich. The women’s world record – Florence Griffith-Joyner’s “zero wind” 10.49 at the 1988 US Olympic Trials – remains unchallenged – but Fraser-Price ran under 10.70 seven times (best of 10.62) and had another run of accurate 10.70. She had the eight fastest times of the year, losing just once — by a hundredth of a second — to 200 world champion and 100 silver medalist Shericka Jackson.
The author does not get an appearance on the T&FN panel. In fact, the only Athlete of the Year awards I vote on are the ones you get to vote for yourself. I supported Fraser-Price – narrowly – over McLaughlin, on the grounds that the weight of their performances just eclipsed McLaughlins’ greater brilliance (four races is just two more than Eliud Kipchoge at the marathon!).
This week before Christmas, the rankings of the British newsletter Athletics International were also published.
Duplantis and McLaughlin were AI’s favorites as AOYs. Eleven Australians were voted in the top 10 at an event. Kelsey-Lee Barber’s successful defense of her world title earned her first place in the women’s javelin; High jump gold medalist Eleanor Patterson was second (behind Yaroslav Mahuchikh).
Mondo Duplanti’s pole vault world record holder
Bronze medalist in the pole vault, Nina Kennedy, finished third in the pole vault and last year’s Olympic silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers, fourth in the high jump, as did Mackenzie Little in the javelin throw and walker Jemima Montag in the 20K. Brooke Buschkuehl was fifth in the long jump.
Four men earned rankings: Ollie Hoare was fifth in the 1500 and Stewart McSweyn was ninth. Matt Denny was eighth in the discus and Peter Bol was ninth in the 800.
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 06: Oliver Hoare of Team Australia celebrates after winning gold in the Men’s 1500m Final during day ninth of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at Alexander Stadium on August 06, 2022 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
There is much more to come as the year recaps continue. As Roy and HG might say, too many end-of-season polls are hardly enough.
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