http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/display-article?arId=66608
2011 MEN’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
David RudishaRepeats As No. 1
In 2011 it would have been tough for David Rudisha to live up to the lofty standards he set in ’10, when he went undefeated and twice lowered the World Record in the 800. That led to one of the rare perfect-score wins in Athlete Of The Year voting history.
This year the 23-year-old Kenyan didn’t set any WRs and even lost a race. But the world champion nonetheless repeated as the men’s AOY, winning 10 of his 11 races, topped by a 1:41.33 that rates as the No. 5 time in history.
Rudisha’s share of the points pie was the lowest in many years as no fewer than 6 athletes received mention as a No. 1 from our 33-member international voting panel. He beat out the ‘08 and ‘09 AOY, sprint god Usain Bolt.
The top 10 athletes, with their scores (for a full charting of all the scores—plus our intergalactically-famous World Rankings—check out the February edition of Track & Field News, available next week):
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David Rudisha (Kenya—800 meters)…272
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Usain Bolt (Jamaica—100/200 meters)…259
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Robert Harting (Germany—discus)…255
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Yohan Blake (Jamaica—100/200 meters)…244
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Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya—marathon)…190
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Mo Farah (Great Britain—5000/10,000 meters)…174
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Kirani James (Grenada—400 meters)…137
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Trey Hardee (USA—decathlon)…67
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Dayron Robles (Cuba—110 hurdles)…60
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Christian Taylor (USA—triple jump)…39
Distribution of the 1st-place votes: Rudisha 12, Bolt, Harting & Blake 6, Mutai 2, Farah 1.
Click here to see this year’s Women’s AOY results.
Click here to see the all-time list of Men’s AOYs, dating back to 1963.
2011 WOMEN’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Double Pushes Vivian Cheruiyot To The Top
Kenya scored double wins in our AOY voting, and the second half came on double World Champs golds by Vivian Cheruiyot, the 5000/10,000 winner in Daegu.
In becoming the first Kenyan woman ever to win (and only the fifth from her nation ever to make the top 10), Cheruiyot was a convincing No. 1, earning 21 of the 33 first-place ballots cast by our 33-member international panel.
Cheruiyot had an undefeated season: runner-up Sally Pearson was within three hurdles of doing the same and Valerie Adams was also without a blemish. Pearson (8) and Adams (4) claimed the other votes for No. 1.
The top 10 athletes, with their scores (for a full charting of all the scores—plus our intergalactically-famous World Rankings—check out the February edition of Track & Field News, available next week):
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Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya—5000/10,000)… 317
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Sally Pearson (Australia—100-m hurdles)… 292
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Valerie Adams (New Zealand—shot)… 252
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Carmelita Jeter (USA—100/200 meters)… 217
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Anna Chicherova (Russia—high jump)… 144
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Betty Heidler (Germany—hammer)… 110
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Lashinda Demus (USA—400 hurdles)… 108
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Tatyana Chernova (Russia—heptathlon)… 66
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Mariya Savinova (Russia—800 meters)… 65
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Veronica Campbell-Brown (Jamaica—100/200) 56
Distribution of the 1st-place votes: Cheruiyot 21, Pearson 8, Adams 4.
Click here to see this year’s Men’s AOY results.
Click here to see the all-time list of Women’s AOYs, dating back to 1977.