The Ethiopian won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, a personal best that left her third on the all-time list. She was on world-record pace before she began to limp after 40 kilometres and still finished clear. That is the performance the rest of this shortlist has to live with.
The nominees
- Agnes Ngetich (Kenya) — 10 kilometres and the half-marathon
- María Pérez (Spain) — 20 kilometres and 35 kilometres race walk
- Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (United States) — 100 metres and 200 metres
- Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia) — marathon
- Masai Russell (United States) — 100 metres hurdles
- Audrey Werro (Switzerland) — 800 metres
- Chase Jackson (United States) — shot put
- Camryn Rogers (Canada) — hammer
- Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic) — 400 metres
- Yan Ziyi (China) — javelin
Paulino remains the standard in the women’s 400 metres, an Olympic champion who has owned the one-lap event. Jefferson-Wooden is the sprint nominee across 100 and 200 metres. Russell carries the hurdles. Werro is the young Swiss 800 metres runner on a list that usually belongs to more established names.
Ngetich is the road-running alternative to Assefa, nominated for the 10 kilometres and the half-marathon rather than the full distance. Pérez is the race-walk nominee, double Olympic champion in Paris and still the clearest figure in the event. Rogers and Jackson represent the throws, hammer and shot. Yan Ziyi won Asian Games gold with a first-round 70.46 metres, almost five metres beyond the old Games record.
The pick is Assefa. Berlin was not a clean world record, but a 2:11:04 run from an athlete who was limping inside the last two kilometres is the season’s outstanding single performance. Paulino is the nearest rival if the vote rewards dominance over a year rather than one afternoon in the German capital.