Nigeria superstar and women’s 100m hurdle champion, Tobi Amusan loses the quest to become the Female Athlete of the Year for 2022.
American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone defeated Amusan for the female prize while Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis claimed the men’s award.
McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis, both won the Rising Stars awards just four years ago, and they broke world records multiple times in their respective events this year, with their final record-breaking performances coming at the World Athletics Championships in July.
The 23-year-old won the gold in the women’s 400m hurdles event at the World Athletics Championships in a record time of 50.68 seconds, earning her first individual senior world title.
The American then helped the US team win another 4x400m race after her stunning world record-breaking performance.
On the same night, Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis was named the men’s world athlete of the year.
The 23-year-old set three world records in 2022, winning two global titles and also winning 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulting six meters or higher 23 times.
Duplantis now has more six-meter clearances than any other pole vaulter in history.
At the World Championships in Oregon, Duplantis rose over a world record of 6.21 meters with room to spare as the last athlete competing on the final day of competition.
Less than a month later, he retained his European title with a championship record of 6.06m without registering any misses. He then wrapped up his season with a victory at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.
In other categories, American teenage sprinter Erriyon Knighton and Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos won the men’s and women’s Rising Stars awards, respectively.
