World Athletics announces Athlete of the Year nominees

By OlympicTalkOct 13, 2022, 9:56 AM EDT

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Americans Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Chase Ealey, Noah Lyles and Grant Holloway are among the 10 women’s and 10 men’s nominees for World Athletics Athlete of the Year awards.

A three-way voting process will determine the five women’s and five men’s finalists: World Athletics Council (50%), World Athletics family (25%) and a fan vote (25%) via Facebook, Instagram and YouTube likes and Twitter retweets on the post for the specified athlete.

Voting closes at the end of Oct. 31. After the finalists are named, the winners will be announced in early December.

Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah and Norwegian Karsten Warholm won the awards last year. The last Americans to win were Dalilah Muhammad (2019) and Ashton Eaton (2015).

Female Athlete of the Year Nominees
Tobi Amusan, Nigeria, 100m Hurdles
Broke world record in World Championships semifinals, then won the world title two hours later

Chase Ealey, USA, Shot Put
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus had the Nos. 2-5 throws in American history

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica, 100m
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus ran a record seven sub-10.70 races in one year (at age 35)

Kimberly Garcia, Peru, Race Walk
World titles in 20km, 35km events

Shericka Jackson, Jamaica, 200m
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus the second-fastest time in history

Faith Kipyegon, Kenya, 1500m
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus the second-fastest time in history

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Ukraine, High Jump
World Indoor Champion, World Outdoor silver medalist, equaled national record clearance

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, USA, 400m Hurdles
Broke world record twice, lowering it from 51.46 to 50.68, won world titles in 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay (seventh-fastest relay performer in history)

Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamas, 400m
World Indoor and Outdoor titles

Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela, Triple Jump
World Indoor and Outdoor Championships and Diamond League titles, plus broke her own indoor (and overall) world record

Male Athlete of the Year Nominees
Kristjan Ceh, Slovenia, Discus
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus threw a national record

Alison dos Santos, Brazil, 400m Hurdles
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus ran the third-fastest time in history

Mondo Duplantis, Sweden, Pole Vault
World Indoor and Outdoor Championships and Diamond League titles, plus improved his world record three times

Soufiane El Bakkali, Morocco, 3000m Steeplechase
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus went undefeated in 2022

Grant Holloway, USA, 110m Hurdles
World Indoor and Outdoor Championships and Diamond League titles

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Norway, 1500m/5000m
World Outdoor 5000m champion, World 1500m silver medalist (indoors and outdoors), ran world’s fastest mile in 21 years

Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya, Marathon
Lowered his world record from 2:01:39 to 2:01:09, won Berlin and Tokyo Marathons

Noah Lyles, USA, 200m
World Championships and Diamond League titles, plus broke Michael Johnson‘s American record to become third-fastest man in history

Anderson Peters, Grenada, Javelin
World title, plus became fifth-best performer in history

Pedro Pichardo, Portugal, Triple Jump
World Outdoor champion, World Indoor silver medalist

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Jim Hines, Olympic 100m gold medalist and first to break 10 seconds, dies

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 6:06 AM EDT

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Jim Hines, a 1968 Olympic 100m gold medalist and the first person to break 10 seconds in the event, has died at age 76, according to USA Track and Field.

“I understand that God called him home today and we send the prayers up for him,” was posted on the Facebook page of John Carlos, a 1968 U.S. Olympic teammate, over the weekend.

Hines was born in Arkansas, raised in Oakland, California and attended Texas Southern University in Houston.

At the June 1968 AAU Championships in Sacramento, Hines became the first person to break 10 seconds in the 100m with a hand-timed 9.9. It was dubbed the “Night of Speed” because the world record of 10 seconds was beaten by three men and tied by seven others, according to World Athletics.

“There will never be another night like it,” Hines said at a 35th anniversary reunion in 2003, according to World Athletics. “That was the greatest sprinting series in the history of track and field.”

Later that summer, Hines won the Olympic Trials. Then he won the Olympic gold medal in Mexico City’s beneficial thin air in 9.95 seconds, the first electronically timed sub-10 and a world record that stood for 15 years.

Hines was part of a legendary 1968 U.S. Olympic track and field team that also included 200m gold and bronze medalists Tommie Smith and Carlos, plus gold medalists Wyomia Tyus (100m), Bob Beamon (long jump), Al Oerter (discus), Dick Fosbury (high jump), Lee Evans (400m), Madeline Manning Mims (800m), Willie Davenport (110m hurdles), Bob Seagren (pole vault), Randy Matson (shot put), Bill Toomey (decathlon) and the men’s and women’s 4x100m and men’s 4x400m relays.

After the Olympics, Hines joined the Miami Dolphins, who chose him in the sixth round of that year’s NFL Draft to be a wide receiver. He was given the number 99. Hines played in 10 games between 1969 and 1970 for the Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.

He remains the only person to have played in an NFL regular season game out of the now more than 170 who have broken 10 seconds in the 100m over the last 55 years.

2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 4, 2023, 4:10 PM EDT

At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Having turned 22 on Wednesday, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her last pre-French Open match with a right thigh injury and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, is her top remaining challenger in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded American man or woman, was eliminated in the third round. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has three wins over Swiatek this year, withdrew before her third-round match due to illness.

No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, is the top hope to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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