10) Nadia Batocletti, Italy (5000m/10,000m)

Olympic silver medallist 10,000m; European Champion 5000m & 10,000m; 10,000m SB 30:43.35; 5000m SB 14:31.64

Although her races outside of championships may not have been much to write home about, she has a lethal kick and her ability to run personal bests repeatedly in championship races is an unusual and impressive quality over 5000m and 10,000m. After a golden double in the European Championships, she then carried her excellent championship form into the Olympics, with silver in the 10,000m and an impressive fourth place in an all-star 5000m race.

9) Noor Vidts, Belgium (Multi)

Olympic bronze medallist (Heptathlon); European bronze medallist (Heptathlon); World Indoor gold medallist (Pentathlon); Heptathlon SB 6707; Pentathlon SB 4773

Noor Vidts had an excellent season, bringing home three medals, including the defence of her World Indoor title. She also delivered a heptathlon PR on the biggest stage at the Olympics, and also improving on the 100m Hurdles, Javelin and 800m (as well as a shot put PR at the European Championships).

8) Yemisi Ogunleye, Germany (Shot Put)

Olympic gold medallist; World Indoor silver medallist; European bronze medallist; SB 20.19m

All throughout 2024, Yemisi Ogunleye demonstrated one of the quintessential qualities of athletics greatness: the clutch gene. Ogunleye overperformed in championship competition repeatedly, most notably winning Olympic gold with her final throw. Although her performances on the circuit were not particularly consistent, nor was she consistently throwing over 20m compared to the likes of Chase Jackson and Sarah Mitton, she walked away with hardware from all the big competitions. Her singing ability in press conferences is the other intangible quality that has given her the nod over others behind her for this eighth spot.

7) Sifan Hassan, Netherlands (5000m, 10,000m, Marathon)

Olympic gold medallist Marathon; Olympic bronze medallist 5000m & 10,000m; Marathon SB 2:18.05, 10,000m SB 30.44.12; 5000m SB 14:30.61

I didn’t want to make the same mistake as World Athletics did last year and leave her out of Athlete of the Year contention altogether. Even though her results outside the Olympics were nothing to write home about, her unique Olympic achievements meant she had to find a place on this list. Winning gold in the marathon having won bronze medals in the 5000m and 10,000m is absolutely mind-blowing, and she gets her place on this list just for the sheer audacity of attempting such a feat – succeeding moves her further into the pantheon of all-time greats.

6) Winifred Yavi, Bahrain (3000m Steeplechase)

Olympic gold medallist; #2 all-time steeplechase, SB 8:44.39

Although she only raced five steeple finals in 2024, in her three victories Yavi ran two of the top six times in history, including a huge run only 0.07 seconds away from breaking the world record at the Rome Diamond league. The third win was to take Olympic gold, defending her global title from Budapest the year prior. Those three results alone put her high up on this list, and for the first time since Beatrice Chepkoech’s world record was set, the sub-8:50 barrier was broken and 8:44 doesn’t seem quite so unattainable anymore.

5) Valarie Allman, USA (Discus)

Olympic gold medallist; Diamond League champion, SB 70.89

Valarie Allman was on a revenge tour in the discus after missing out on the world title in dramatic fashion in Budapest in 2023, and in interviews later in the season spoke about her focus in training being to work on ensuring consistency so there would be no risk of a repeat of 2023. Her season went exactly to plan, winning every single one of the eleven competitions she competed in, and throwing seven of the top ten marks of 2024.

4) Keely Hodgkinson, Great Britain (800m)

Olympic gold medallist; #6 all-time 800m, SB 1:54.61

Keely Hodgkinson came into the season with serious intent. AFter missing indoors with a minor injury, she went on to have an unbeaten outdoor season, easily dispatching all comers, including Mary Moraa and her chaos-generating tactics. The manner in which she won the Prefontaine Classic against Moraa, ignoring the variable pace up front and running her own race, resulting in a win by a handy margin, showed that she had developed the right tactics to prevent anyone from beating her compared to the challenges she faced in previous seasons.

At the London Diamond League, in front of 60,000 adoring home fans, she became the fastest woman since Caster Semenya in 2018. At the Olympics, she prioritized victory over speed – and finally got the gold after three straight global silvers. Although she did not race post-Olympics, she firmly established herself as the top dog of the 800m at only 22 years old.

3) Nafissatou Thiam, Belgium (Heptathlon)

Olympic gold medallist; European champion, SB 6,880

Nafi Thiam really does deserve her flowers. She won her third consecutive Olympic gold, in an event where it is such a challenge to stay fully healthy over such an extended period. Having missed the 2023 outdoor season with injury, we didn’t know if Thiam’s dominance over her specialty event would continue. But her winning performance on her return to competition in Rome at the European Championships (which came with some pressure as she did not have a qualifying mark for the Olympics) put any doubts to rest – with a lifetime best in the 800m to boot. In Paris, she faced serious pressure from longtime rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson, but Thiam proved once again that she’s one of the best to ever do it in her specialty event. We’re trying to keep our focus on 2024, and Thiam did only complete two heptathlons this season, but it’s certainly worth considering the broader context of delivering a third Olympic gold (and fifth global title) in what could’ve easily been a “rebuilding” season for a lesser athlete.

2) Faith Kipyegon, Kenya (1500m, 5000m)

Olympic gold medalist 1500m; 1500m SB 3.49.04 WR; 5000m SB 14.29.60

Faith Kipyegon had another season for the ages, going unbeaten in 1500m finals, and her only defeat of the year coming in the 5000m at the Olympics, where she was only outkicked by a red-hot Beatrice Chebet and her mid race arm-wrestling match with Gudaf Tsegay may have impacted her performance. Securing a third Olympic 1500m gold alongside another world record of 3.49:04 this year firmly solidifies her place on the throne as the event’s G.O.A.T. (if there was even any debate after her 2023 season). However with only one Olympic gold, she doesn’t quite earn the top spot when looking specifically at 2024.

1) Beatrice Chebet, Kenya (5000m, 10,000m, XC)

Olympic gold medalist 5000m and 10,000m; World XC Champion; 10,000m SB 28:54.14 WR; 5000m SB 14.09:52 WL

Beatrice Chebet has been threatening to break through over the last couple of years with silver and bronze over 5000m in 2022 and 2023. 2024 was very much her coming out party. Starting with an emphatic defence of her World Cross Country title in February, she booked her place in the pantheon of all time greats when becoming the first woman to break 29 minutes over 10,000m on the track. She backed that up with Olympic gold in both the 5000m and the 10,000m, with the 5000m being won against perhaps the greatest field ever assembled, including the last three global champions, two of whom also broke the world record last year.

She then took a couple of runs at the 5000m world record in the post season Diamond Leagues where, in spite of falling slightly short she ran sub 14.10 twice, which were all time top 10 times, and she showed her impressive consistency in doing this as well as walking away with the world leading time for the year.