The Monday Musings Awards 2023 - part 1
Who were the biggest stars of the year, on the track, the roads and the trails?
With the last of this year’s big races happening over the weekend - the Valencia marathon and the world 24-hour championships - I reckon it’s time to begin looking back at 2023 and to pick out some of the biggest hits and misses. If Spotify can start unwrapping the year already, then so can I.
First up, let’s lay down some of the big awards. Who were the absolute kings and queens of 2023?
On the men’s side, Male World Athlete of the Year has to be the man from outer space, Kelvin Kiptum. As I wrote in October, the Kenyan star is to marathon running what Usain Bolt was to sprinting - an out-of-the-blue paradigm shift. What’s even more impressive is that men’s marathon running was already riding high at a pretty incredible level, with Eliud Kipchoge slowly but steadily redefining what we thought was possible. But then, bam, up steps cocksure Kiptum, who says with a swagger (and I’m paraphrasing here), “hold my pint, Eliud”.
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