After months of dialogue and voting on World Athletics’ social media pages for his or her prestigious World Athlete of the Yr Award, the governing physique of operating/observe and discipline did one thing nobody may have predicted on the awards evening on Monday in Monaco. For the primary time in 35 years, the award was given to 3 males and three girls, and followers throughout the game are outraged.

Six athletes – Tigist Assefa, @mondohoss600
, Kelvin Kiptum, Religion Kipyegon, @LylesNoah and @TeamRojas45 – have been introduced as World Athletes of the Yr for 2023.#AthleticsAwards press launch ⬇️

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) December 11, 2023

As a substitute of giving out a males’s and ladies’s World Athlete of the Yr award, as they’ve finished up to now, they divided it into three classes: Monitor Athlete of the Yr, Subject Athlete of the Yr, and Non-Stadia Athlete of the Yr. Religion Kipyegon and Noah Lyles received the Monitor award, whereas pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and triple jumper Yulimar Rojas received the Subject award. Non-Stadia accolades went to the lads’s and ladies’s new world document holders, Kelvin Kiptum and Tigist Assefa.

On-line feedback

The Web was not impressed with World Athletics altering the format on the final minute (after the voting). Many thought deserving athletes like Kipyegon, Lyles and Kiptum had been robbed of their glory and success. “What’s the level of getting finalists if all people wins some class that wasn’t introduced prior? It ought to have been clear you could have classes from the beginning, not on the ultimate day,” a fan tweeted.

Am I the one one who thinks having six athletes of the yr is a nasty thought? Am I lacking one thing? Simply noticed it’s observe, discipline, and out of stadia classes. So possibly it is sensible. https://t.co/GMcvwI2s6x

— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) December 12, 2023

“Such a ineffective ceremony,” tweeted one other fan. Monitor and discipline dash legend Michael Johnson even tweeted, “Am I the one one who thinks having six athletes of the yr is a nasty thought? Am I lacking one thing?”

World Athletics’ reasoning

World Athletics mentioned its choice to divide the award into three classes got here from followers and council members, who commented that it was “extremely arduous” to restrict the vote to only one athlete. That’s what individuals say after they have a tricky choice to make, which means that World Athletics selected extremely deserving finalists–not that they need to cut up the award. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe took it in another way: “The depth of expertise and the excellent performances in our sport this yr greater than justify the enlargement of the World Athletics Awards to acknowledge the accomplishments of those six athletes throughout a variety of disciplines. It is just becoming that they be acknowledged because the athletes of the yr of their respective fields,” Coe mentioned in a press launch.

Poor communication from World Athletics

When World Athletics named the ten nominees for the award in late October, they didn’t point out they had been planning to divide the award 3 ways. Even after they narrowed it down to 5 finalists, there was no indication it could be cut up. Most followers would have been OK with three AOTY awards if that they had identified in the course of the voting course of that that may be the case.

Feminine Athlete of the Yr nominee ✨

Retweet to vote for Religion Kipyegon 🇰🇪 within the #AthleticsAwards. pic.twitter.com/NfjZWf7tC2

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 11, 2023

In a sport that’s at all times trying to develop and garner extra consideration, going in opposition to the grain of the neighborhood and fan votes isn’t a strategy to appeal to new individuals to the game, particularly heading into an Olympic yr. Though it’s straightforward to know World Athletics’ reasoning for splitting the award–it’s arduous to match athletes of various disciplines, particularly since a pole vaulter like world champion Duplantis can solely win accolades in a single self-discipline, whereas Lyles or Kipyegon may win medals in two or three occasions. Nonetheless, World Athletics had three alternatives to tell the general public they’d be splitting the awards this yr, and I’m certain fewer followers could be disenchanted within the final result.

Think about watching the Tremendous Bowl and seeing them hand out an offensive, defensive and particular groups MVP. It might make the award meaningless.