World champions and world record-breakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis have been named the World Athletes of the Year.
They were the final winners to be revealed as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022, along with the winners of the Rising Stars awards: Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos and US sprinter Erriyon Knighton.
McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis &ndash; winners of the Rising Stars awards just four years ago &ndash; broke the world records in their respective disciplines on more than one occasion this year, with their final record-breaking performances coming at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
McLaughlin-Levrone improved her own world 400m hurdles record by 0.78, first to 51.41 at the US Championships and then to an awe-inspiring 50.68 at the World Championships. That secured her a first individual senior world title, and she followed it by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory.
The 23-year-old made a statement with her first 400m hurdles race of the year, clocking 51.61 in Nashville in early June. At that point it was the third-fastest time ever recorded, but the all-time list soon underwent further revisions.
Lining up at the US Championships at Hayward Field, McLaughlin-Levrone stormed to victory in the 400m hurdles in 51.41, taking 0.05 off the mark she set at last year&rsquo;s Tokyo Olympics.
&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s a little bit more in the tank there,&rdquo; she said after her US Championships win. &ldquo;Hopefully when it&rsquo;s time we can just empty it completely.&rdquo;
Back at Hayward Field a month later, McLaughlin-Levrone obliterated her previous best, running 50.68 as the home crowd and the rest of the world watched on in amazement.
"All of my goals were accomplished this year," said McLaughlin-Levrone. "We were able to accomplish everything we set out to do. It couldn&rsquo;t have been any better, and I was so grateful that I was able to produce that performance in front of a home crowd."
Just when you think Duplantis could not be more dominant, the Swedish pole vaulter has a season like 2022, during which he set three world records, won two global titles, won 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulted six metres or higher 23 times.
Duplantis, despite only just turning 23, now has more six-metre clearances than any other pole vaulter in history.
His record-breaking 2022 campaign began with an undefeated indoor season, during which he set a world record of 6.19m in Belgrade. He returned to the Serbian capital two weeks later for the World Athletics Indoor Championships, where he struck gold with 6.20m, another improvement on his own world record.
He was then victorious on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, including a 6.16m vault in Stockholm, the highest ever outdoor vault in history. It was the perfect warm-up for the World Championships three weeks later.
As the last athlete competing on the final day of competition at the World Championships in Oregon, Duplantis soared over a world record of 6.21m with room to spare.
Less than a month later, he retained his European title with a championship record of 6.06m in a competition where he registered no misses. He then wrapped up his season with a victory at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.
"Going into the year, I had really high expectations of myself and I had some really big goals," said Duplantis. "I wanted to win the world indoors, the world outdoors, the Europeans, the Diamond League final, and I wanted to break the world record a few times.
"I was able to do that and it was a bonus, the cherry on top, to do be able to do it (break the world record) at the right times, to do it at world indoors and do it at world outdoors. I can&rsquo;t complain.<a name="rising"></a>"
&nbsp;
<h2>Vilagos and Knighton named Rising Stars of 2022</h2>
It was a season of back-to-back successes for this year&rsquo;s Rising Stars.
Vilagos successfully defended her world U20 javelin title, doing so with a championship record of 63.52m and breaking the European U20 record in the process. Less than three months later, she claimed silver at the senior European Championships in Munich.
&ldquo;Defending my world U20 title in Colombia was my main goal, but winning a medal at the European Championships was the biggest surprise,&rdquo; said Vilagos. &ldquo;It was a good year and this award crowns it.&rdquo;
Knighton, meanwhile, has been named Rising Star for the second year in a row. He clocked a lifetime best of 19.49 in April which couldn&rsquo;t be ratified as a world U20 record, but he went on to break the mark officially at the US Championships, where he ran 19.69. He followed that with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Oregon, then went on to achieve victories on the Continental Tour and Diamond League circuit.
Remarkably, both Rising Stars will still be U20 athletes for 2023.
&ldquo;Winning this award back to back means my talent is getting recognised on a bigger stage,&rdquo; said Knighton, the first athlete ever to win two Rising Star awards. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in the work to achieve this and I&rsquo;m very grateful.&rdquo;
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<hr />
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<h2>Other award winners</h2>
<h3>Member Federations Award</h3>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/member-federations-award-2022-brazil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Confederacao Brasileira de Atletismo</a>
Brazil hosted six international events successfully in 2022, including the South American U18 and U23 Championships, the South American Cross Country Championships, the Pan American Cross Country Championships, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, and an international grand prix. The federation secured two revolutionary sponsorship deals, benefitting the country&rsquo;s elite athletes as well as providing a boost to the sport at grass roots level.
&nbsp;
<h3>Fair Play Award</h3>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/fair-play-award-2022-nageotte-bradshaw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Nageotte and Holly Bradshaw</a>
At the World Championships in Oregon, Holly Bradshaw injured herself after her pole snapped during the pole vault warm-up session. Her fellow competitor Katie Nageotte immediately went over to support her. Knowing she would no longer be able to contend for a place in the final, Bradshaw withdrew from the competition, thus allowing another athlete to advance. Bradshaw received a lot of abuse on social media for withdrawing, but Nageotte again offered support by taking to Twitter in defence of her competitor.
&nbsp;
<h3>President&rsquo;s Award</h3>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/presidents-award-2022-ukraine-association" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukrainian Athletic Association</a>
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the majority of Ukraine&rsquo;s elite athletes were unable to continue training, let alone compete. But the country&rsquo;s athletes showed remarkable resilience and made the most of any support that came their way &ndash; including the Ukraine Relief Fund, which was launched in April by World Athletics, the International Athletics Foundation and the Diamond League Association. Ukraine's athletes went on to win medals at all three global track and field championships this year.
&nbsp;
<h3>Coaching Achievement Award</h3>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/coaching-achievement-award-2022-gennadii-zuiev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gennadii Zuiev</a>
Despite the conflict in their home country of Ukraine, Gennadii Zuiev continued to guide high jumper Andriy Protsenko to world and European medals in 2022, also working with other athletes to overcome the difficulties they faced. Zuiev and Protsenko both live in the Kherson region of Ukraine and Protsenko spent about five weeks under the Russian occupation in March and April. Improvising with home-made equipment, he was still able to train and their hard work paid off when Protsenko made the podium in Oregon and Munich.
&nbsp;
<h3>Woman of the Year Award</h3>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/woman-of-the-year-2022-fraser" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donna Fraser</a>
A champion for gender equality and the empowerment of women in athletics, two-time world 4x400m medallist Donna Fraser has been a World Athletics gender leadership moderator since 2019 and regularly features in the governing body&rsquo;s speaking panels and webinars on the topic, also frequently appearing in the media to talk about diversity and inclusion.
&nbsp;
<h3>World Athletics Photograph of the Year</h3>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/photograph-year-2022-martin-rickett" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Martin Rickett&rsquo;s photograph of a steeplechase fall in Oregon</a>
Martin Rickett&rsquo;s image captures Germany's Lea Meyer falling headfirst into the water while competing in the steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
&nbsp;

World champions and world record-breakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis have been named the World Athletes of the Year.

McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis named World Athletes of the Year

The Confederacao Brasileira de Atletismo has been named as winner of the Member Federations Award, the sixth honour announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
The Member Federations Award honours a national governing body that has gone above and beyond to serve its athletes, fans and greater community. Six federations were shortlisted for the award in 2022, each nominated by one of the six area associations, before Brazil was selected as the winner.
&ldquo;Brazil receives the Member Federations Award with great joy and pride,&rdquo; said Confederacao Brasileira de Atletismo President Wlamir Leandro Motta Campos. &ldquo;It is a collective achievement, which I share with all the staff of the Brazilian Athletics Confederation, with the athletes, coaches, referees, officials, regional federation presidents and our sponsors.&rdquo;
Brazil hosted six international events successfully in 2022, including the South American U18 and U23 Championships, the South American Cross Country Championships, the Pan-American Cross Country Championships, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, and an international grand prix.
The federation secured two revolutionary sponsorship deals, benefitting the country&rsquo;s elite athletes as well as providing a boost to the sport at grass roots level.
&ldquo;It is a delight for the Brazilian Athletics Confederation to be able to take care of athletes, enabling better results by offering health plans to our athletes who stand out in Brazilian Championships and who are part of the national teams,&rdquo; added Motta Campos.
&ldquo;The Brazilian Confederation supports athletes from the start to the elite level. We have 60 grass roots athletics training centres, where we introduce the sport to children from six years old. We take part in all events with full teams, which shows our commitment and respect for the athletes, the greatest assets in our sport.&rdquo;
The Brazilian Athletics Confederation was founded on 2 December 1977, so celebrated its 45th anniversary on Friday.
Other winners already announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022 include Gennadii Zuiev (Coaching Achievement Award), Donna Fraser (Woman of the Year), Ukraine Athletic Association (President&rsquo;s Award), Martin Rickett (Photograph of the Year) and Katie Nageotte and Holly Bradshaw (Fair Play Award). The World Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars will be revealed on Monday 5 December.
World Athletics

The Member Federations Award honours a national governing body that has gone above and beyond to serve its athletes, fans and greater community

Brazil wins Member Federations Award

Katie Nageotte and Holly Bradshaw have been named winners of the International Fair Play Committee&rsquo;s (CIFP) Fair Play Award as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
In August, World Athletics invited fans to take to social media to cast their vote for the moment that best exemplified fair play during the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. Following six days of voting, the social media scores were <a href="https://worldathletics.org/awards/news/finalists-fair-play-award-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/awards/news/finalists-fair-play-award-2022">combined with jury votes</a> to determine three finalists, before Nageotte and Bradshaw were selected as the winners.
Traditionally the Fair Play Award recognises moments that happen during competition, but this time the honour highlights an act that went beyond the field of play.
In Oregon, Bradshaw injured herself after her pole snapped during the pole vault warm-up session. Her fellow competitor Nageotte immediately went over to support her. Knowing she would no longer be able to contend for a place in the final, Bradshaw withdrew from the competition, thus allowing another athlete to advance. Bradshaw received a lot of abuse on social media for withdrawing, but Nageotte again offered support by taking to Twitter in defence of her competitor.
&ldquo;The reason I wanted to address those negative comments online is first of all, Holly is the toughest athlete I&rsquo;ve possibly ever met. For her to pull out of a competition, especially a World Championships, no one would ever just do that,&rdquo; said Nageotte.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s also ignorance around our sport. It&rsquo;s kind of insulting to the sport as a whole when people say: &lsquo;oh she only fell 2ft, she&rsquo;s really milking it&rsquo;. When you break a pole, it would be like taking a metal baseball bat and hitting it against a metal pole as hard as you can. I&rsquo;ve seen so many injuries from it, so if nothing else, I want to teach people about the sport.&rdquo;
Bradshaw added: &ldquo;No one should be expected to understand (everything about the pole vault) but it&rsquo;s just having that realisation that what you are saying at home and posting online really does affect a person. Putting it online and in the domain, does so much damage. For Katie to stand up and speak out about it, is very important.&rdquo;
Secretary General of CIFP Sunil Sabharwal was also in Oregon during the World Championships. Giving recognition to the way the Fair Play Award has evolved and the winning moment in 2022, he said: &ldquo;When we look for an act of fair play, we are looking for an act where someone goes beyond the call of duty, at times putting themselves at risk. Here what we had was a series of events.
&ldquo;If you think about sports media or sports history, this kind of social media hate is a new phenomenon and the committee and the jury felt that this unwanted, unnecessary and undesired criticism by people who really don&rsquo;t know what is going on, needs to be called out. We were unanimous in supporting this.&rdquo;
On the significance of this recognition, Nageotte added: &ldquo;This award is so important for the next generation because I have always wanted to show that you can be a fierce competitor and phenomenal at what you do and still be a good person. It&rsquo;s more important for me to be remembered as a decent human being than a good athlete and if I can have both of those, then that&rsquo;s great.
&ldquo;I am happy that I could be a part of this, to show people that you can be a good person and that kindness is what we need more of going forward in this world. If I could show a little bit of that I&rsquo;m really happy, and to share it with Holly is pretty awesome.&rdquo;
The <a href="http://www.fairplayinternational.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="http://www.fairplayinternational.org">CIFP</a> was established more than 50 years ago to promote the principles of fair play in sport: fair competition, respect, friendship, team spirit, equality and sport without doping. It honours those who respect the written and unwritten rules of sport, which include integrity, solidarity, tolerance, care, excellence and joy, and who set an example for others, on and off the field. Related to the World Championships alone, 10 awards have been handed out since 2003.
The announcement of the 2022 Fair Play Award comes on the same day as the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/online-abuse-study-world-athletics-championships-oregon22" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/online-abuse-study-world-athletics-championships-oregon22">release of an online abuse study conducted by World Athletics during the World Athletics Championships Oregon22</a>. In line with its commitment to safeguarding on and off the field of play, World Athletics organised the study to identify and address abusive comments sent to athletes and will continue conducting research in this area to develop more effective ways to protect athletes from abuse.
World Athletics

Traditionally the Fair Play Award recognises moments that happen during competition, but this time the honour highlights an act that went beyond the field of play

Nageotte and Bradshaw win Fair Play Award

<h3 align="center">&bull; Almost 60% of all abuse targeted female athletes</h3>
<h3 align="center">&bull; One fifth of all abuse was racial</h3>
<h3 align="center">&bull; 60% of all abuse was made on Twitter</h3>
 In line with its commitment to safeguarding on and off the field of play, World Athletics today (2) publishes findings of a study conducted during the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 to identify and address abusive comments sent to athletes via social media.
It is the second study of its kind in athletics following the Online Abuse Study that World Athletics conducted during the Tokyo Olympic Games, <a href="https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/online-abuse-study-athletes-tokyo-olympic-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which revealed disturbing levels of abuse of athletes</a> and unequivocally highlighted the greater levels of abuse female athletes received in comparison to their male counterparts. This has informed World Athletics&rsquo; wider safeguarding policy, which was launched in November 2021 and updated in July of this year to make safeguarding policies mandatory for its Member Federations by the end of 2023.
World Athletics&rsquo; initial deployment of Threat Matrix, an initiative by data science company Signify Group supported by sports investigations company Quest Global, at the Tokyo Olympic Games was designed to illuminate the size, scale and gravity of the issue of online discriminatory abuse targeted at Olympic athletes on Twitter. At the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, the efforts to protect athletes online went several steps further.
This year, coverage was extended to Instagram, meaning athletes were protected across the two platforms on which abuse is most likely to be detected. In addition, World Athletics monitored almost three times the number of athletes compared with the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The results of these two studies are guiding the strategies World Athletics is employing to address the issue of online abuse and will help World Athletics to work more closely with social media platforms to tackle the issue.
To further protect athletes and gain an understanding of online abuse surrounding the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, the accounts of 461 competitors (derived from a list of 487 athletes with at least one active account, provided by World Athletics) across Twitter and Instagram were monitored for a period starting on 10 July and ending 1 August 2022. The timeframe was designed to detect any abuse leading in and out of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, as well as during the event itself.
<h3>Recipients of abuse and frequency of posts</h3>
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6388be40b4112ea2e4a2b1e4.jpg" alt="Oregon online abuse study - recipients of abuse and frequency of posts" />
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</div>
In this timeframe, 427,764 posts and comments on Twitter and Instagram were captured for analysis. This included text analysis, through searches for slurs, offensive images and emojis and other phrases that could indicate abuse. AI-powered Natural Language Processing was used to detect threats by understanding the relationship between words (allowing it to determine the difference between &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll kill you&rdquo; from &ldquo;you killed it&rdquo;, for example). A post on Twitter refers to any tweet in which an athlete&rsquo;s @ handle was mentioned, while a comment on Instagram refers to any comment made in response to an organic, in-feed upload by an athlete.
The study revealed:
<ul>
<li>59 targeted discriminatory posts were identified coming from 57 unique authors, with 27 of the 461 tracked athletes receiving targeted abuse.</li>
<li>Sexualised and sexist abuse &ndash; overwhelmingly targeted at female athletes &ndash; made up over 40% of all detected posts.</li>
<li>Twitter was the preferred channel for abusers, accounting for almost 60% of detected abuse.</li>
<li>Abuse tended to be driven by events outside of competition &ndash; athletes were targeted over controversies associated with athletics, but not necessarily driven by results in the stadium.</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;The results of this study are disturbing but it&rsquo;s important that we know where and how our athletes are being abused on social media so we can take steps to protect them and prevent future occurrences,&rdquo; World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.
&ldquo;There is no place for abusive behaviour in our sport and we need to send a clear message to those who think athletes are fair game for this mistreatment. We won&rsquo;t hesitate to sanction individuals who abuse our athletes where we can identify them. We have a duty to safeguard our athletes to the best of our ability and that is why we have developed robust safeguarding policies to set the standards we want to see in our sport.&rdquo;
<h3>Breakdown of abuse types in Oregon</h3>
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6388bf7d381dc636c2ae3aa2.png" alt="Oregon online abuse study - breakdown of abuse types" />
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</div>
60% of all detected online abuse was sexual or racial in nature, with racism comments depicted in the form of offensive deployment of the N-word, and in the use of monkey emojis against black athletes. This &lsquo;weaponisation&rsquo; of emojis as part of racist abuse is now common online.
When abuse types were broken down by gender, half of all abuse targeting female athletes was of a sexualised nature. Abuse targeting male athletes tended to include general slurs, with a significant proportion (29%) of racist abuse also detected.
As part of the analysis, all flagged abuse was placed into categories of seriousness, each with recommended actions.
59% of abusive posts were deemed to warrant intervention from the social platforms, with 5% considered so egregious that World Athletics is considering further sanctions against these individuals, including sending evidence and reports to national law enforcement agencies.
Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group, commented: &ldquo;Running a second follow up study with World Athletics illustrates the importance of on-going tracking of these issues as well as proactive stakeholder intervention. With the social media platforms currently in a state of flux and the introduction of new regulatory initiatives to deal with the poison of online abuse, it has never been more important to have a clear understanding of what athletes are facing online, the tactics being used to target abuse and the performance of platforms in dealing with this content.&rdquo;
Further to the data uncovered in the study, something that became apparent during the World Athletics Championships is that not all abuse happened on the athletes&rsquo; accounts. Some was found in the comments sections of media outlets and other organisations covering the event. World Athletics is exploring ways to better monitor and address this type of abuse, and will continue to conduct research in this area and use findings to further eradicate online abuse from both its own channels as well as those of our athletes.
Since the launch of the Safeguarding Policy, World Athletics has taken a number of steps to ensure athletics becomes a sport free from harassment and abuse and has created a number of resources for Member Federations and other stakeholder groups to ensure this is the case in all regions of the world.
All Safeguarding materials are available in seven languages and provide clear steps for Member Federations to be able to implement their own Safeguarding Policies by the end of 2023 and are accessible via a newly-launched <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletics-better-world/safeguarding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dedicated Safeguarding section on the World Athletics website</a>.
<h3><a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/6389c796714a27f250a15a6a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full press release and key findings</a> </h3>

Almost 60% of all abuse targeted female athletes

World Athletics publishes Online Abuse Study covering World Athletics Championships Oregon22

Martin Rickett&rsquo;s shot of a fall at the water jump during the women's 3000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 has been selected as the World Athletics Photograph of the Year.
The fourth award announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022, the World Athletics Photograph of the Year shines a spotlight on some of the outstanding images captured by professional photographers.
From the 110 images that were submitted, the panel of judges &ndash; comprising Valerie Adams, Raquel Cavaco Nunes, Ivo Gonzalez, Renaud Lavillenie and Pascal Rondeau &ndash; narrowed the entries to <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/world-athletics-photograph-year-2022-shortlisted-images" target="_blank" rel="noopener">26 shortlisted images</a> and <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/2022-world-athletics-photograph-finalists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three finalists</a> before deciding on the winner.
Rickett&rsquo;s photograph captures Germany's Lea Meyer falling headfirst into the water while competing in the heats on day two of the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field.
It was taken using a remote camera placed two hours before the start of the session.
&ldquo;I could see in the background that somebody had fallen, so I pressed the remote to trigger the camera, but didn&rsquo;t know if the camera had actually fired,&rdquo; explained Rickett, shooting for PA Media. &ldquo;I then had to wait until the end of the session to retrieve the camera and that was a very nervous walk, to see how the images had turned out.
&ldquo;Thank you to World Athletics for putting on this competition. It&rsquo;s great that athletics specialist photographers have their work showcased around the world."
Although somewhat frustrated to have fallen at the World Championships, Meyer, the athlete in the picture, says the moment was a symbolic one of her season.
"When I tripped over the barrier, it was a bit of a wake-up call," she said. "It showed me that, even when I'm in good shape, I still have to make sure I concentrate and have to be 100% focused during the race. I still finished the race, and my time wasn't even that slow. Ultimately that provided me with the confidence that if everything does come together and I am fully focused, I can deliver when it matters. And that&rsquo;s exactly what happened a few weeks later at the European Championships in Munich (where she won the silver medal).
"While it may not have been the best moment for me personally, the photo itself is incredible," she added. "And in hindsight the photo in a way encapsulates how my whole season turned out. 2022 has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs for me, and it illustrates how every time I do fall &ndash; literally or figuratively speaking &ndash; I always get back up."
Rickett is an award-winning sport photographer based in Manchester, UK. Since joining PA Media in 2001, he has covered multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games, World Athletics Championships and European Championships, as well as many other sports and events.
Other winners already announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022 include Gennadii Zuiev (Coaching Achievement Award), Donna Fraser (Woman of the Year) and the Ukrainian Athletic Association (President&rsquo;s Award). Further announcements will be made in the coming days, ahead of the World Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars being revealed on Monday 5 December.
World Athletics

Martin Rickett’s shot of a fall at the water jump during the steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 has been selected as the World Athletics Photograph of the Year

Rickett captures World Athletics Photograph of the Year

The World Athletics Council has made a number of important decisions at its 229th meeting in Rome, to round out a highly successful year for the sport and provide guidance for the coming years.
In his summary of the year, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe noted that the organisation had organised four World Athletics Series events, attended by almost 4000 athletes from 180 countries, who set 354 national records. These events reached a cumulative global TV audience of three quarters of a billion, which extended well over one billion when accounting for the digital audience.
Among other events, the sport staged 162 Continental Tour events where almost 12,000 athletes competed from 159 countries, setting two area records, 118 national records and 2,396 personal bests.&nbsp;
On the road, the tally will be 200 events with almost 3 million people participating and generating a total revenue of $1.7 million, of which $72,000 will be paid to the AIU for their testing programme at the top level marathons.
The World Athletics website had 33 million visitors with over 1 billion hits on the competition statistics database. Our media coverage has reached 10 billion people. Our social media followers grew to 10 million and our fan database grew to 183,000.
The Council reached the following decisions in its two-day meeting in Rome.
<h2>Host of the 2024 World Athletics Relays announced</h2>
The 2024 World Athletics Relays have been awarded to Nassau in The Bahamas.
This event will be held in April/May 2024 (dates to be confirmed) and will be the main Olympic qualifying event for the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x100m and 4x400m relays and the mixed 4x400m relay.
Coe welcomed the decision, saying: &ldquo;We have had three wonderful editions of the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, which established this event on the global calendar, so we know we are in safe hands for what will be an important Olympic qualifier for all our relay events. We are confident that The Bahamas will offer the best conditions for the athletes and a brilliant atmosphere for both athletes and fans as we mark a key milestone on the road to the Paris Olympic Games.&rdquo;
The President of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Drumeco Archer responded: "We are incredibly excited for the long-awaited homecoming of the World Athletics Relays 2024 and we are grateful to the World Athletics Council for considering The Bahamas as the host city for this all-important event. The BAAA family and stakeholders will be standing at the seashores and airports with the banner of athletics waving high as we welcome the world of athletics and sporting enthusiasts back to our shores.
&ldquo;With a mutual sense of excitement, the Government of The Bahamas is proud to welcome you back to our country, which is widely known as a sporting paradise. Both the Government of The Bahamas and the BAAA intend to make the fourth hosting of this event the most &lsquo;Bahamazing&rsquo; experience of them all!"
<h2>Russia Taskforce report</h2>
World Athletics&rsquo; Russia Taskforce expects to be in a position to make a final recommendation to the World Athletics Council on the reinstatement of the Russian Federation (RusAF) at the next Council Meeting in March 2023, provided RusAF continues to make progress in reforming its culture, Taskforce Chair Rune Andersen told the Council today.
However he acknowledged that RusAF&rsquo;s progress on its reinstatement plan would have no bearing on any Council decision on RusAF&rsquo;s status arising from the war in Ukraine.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/member-federation-resource-centre#collapserussian-reinstatement-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In presenting his regular report to the Council</a>, Andersen said that the RusAF leadership team had &ldquo;embedded a new culture of good governance and zero tolerance for doping throughout the organisation&rdquo; under Acting President Irina Privalova.
He noted that RusAF is reporting historic anti-doping rule violations uncovered in the Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), is delivering anti-doping education for 13,000 young athletes, has developed a test distribution plan that includes more than 2000 domestic tests of Russian athletes per year (most out of competition), and is taking other initiatives, including fining government-funded athletes for any single whereabouts violations.
But Andersen said that widespread and sustainable cultural change would likely take many years to embed and would proceed at different paces in different parts of the system. He expressed concern around the decision of the RUSADA disciplinary commission not to publish its findings in the case of the ice-skater Kamily Valieva.
He said the close monitoring and oversight of RusAF&rsquo;s operations would not end when its suspension from membership of World Athletics was lifted, but this function would be taken over by the Athletics Integrity Unit, which would enforce a detailed set of Post-Reinstatement Conditions, more stringent than those currently imposed on &ldquo;Category A&rdquo; federations (those regarded as most at risk of major doping issues).
These conditions would be finalised with the AIU over the coming months and would be presented to the Council for approval before the Taskforce made its final recommendation on reinstatement.
The Taskforce would also recommend that, to prevent backsliding or interference, any material breach of the Post-Reinstatement Conditions should trigger a Council proposal to Congress to expel RusAF permanently from membership of World Athletics.
<h2>World Athletics Series updates</h2>
In order to continue to support the development of road running, especially the growth of road miles and 5 km road races, the Council agreed to change the current frequency of the biennial World Road Running Championships, making it an annual event. The annual rotation will start in 2025.
The Council also approved the following dates for upcoming World Athletics Series events:
World Athletics Cross Country Championships Medulin/Pula 24: 10-11 February 2024
World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24: 26-31 August 2024
World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25: 13-21 September 2025
<h2>Changes to competition rules</h2>
From 1 January 2023, World Athletics will introduce an official world record for the road mile. Prior to 1 September 2023, official recognition of a world record will require a performance of at least 3:50.00 (men) / 4:19.00 (women). If the listed standards are not met by 1 September, the fastest recorded, record-eligible performances will be recognised as the world records.
<h2>Kenyan Federation status</h2>
The Council discussed the ongoing situation with doping in Kenya in the context of the Athletics Integrity Unit&rsquo;s regular report. It was agreed that the Kenyan Government&rsquo;s commitment to provide an additional $5 million a year for the next five years to strengthen Kenya&rsquo;s anti-doping programmes was an appropriate response to the situation at this time. As Kenya remains a Category A federation under the World Athletics anti-doping rules, the onus remains on Kenyan authorities to work closely with the AIU to ensure these funds are used effectively.
Coe welcomed the measures being taken to address the doping situation in Kenya.
&ldquo;I particularly welcome the additional resource made available by the Government of Kenya in this fight. The only way that we can reduce the scale of this problem is a joint commitment across all the sports stakeholders in Kenya and of course World Athletics and its Athletics integrity unit,&rdquo; Coe said.
<h2>DSD and transgender regulations</h2>
Outside of its formal meeting, the Council also attended a two-hour information session to discuss an ongoing review of the current DSD Regulations and Transgender Regulations. A preferred option for both sets of regulations was presented to the Council members and it was agreed that this option would be considered more widely during a consultation period with member federations, athletes and other stakeholders over the coming months. The results of this consultation and a final recommendation will be presented to the Council for a decision at its March meeting.
&ldquo;As most of you will know, we have always said our regulations in this area, and all areas, are subject to review at any time,&rdquo; said Coe. &ldquo;In terms of these regulations, we will follow the science and the decade and more of the research we have in this area in order to protect the female category, maintain fairness in our competitions and remain as inclusive as possible.&rdquo;
Some additional work is being prepared following the Council information. Once this is complete World Athletics will share its preferred option publicly as part of the consultation process.

Summary of decisions made at the 229th World Athletics Council Meeting in Rome

Decisions made at World Athletics Council Meeting in Rome

The Ukrainian Athletic Association has been awarded the President&rsquo;s Award as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe presented Ukrainian Athletic Association President Yevhen Pronin with the award on Wednesday (30) at the World Athletics Council Meeting in Rome.
&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t think of anyone worthier than this for this year&rsquo;s award,&rdquo; said Coe. &ldquo;What the Ukrainian Athletics Federation President, the coaches, and the athletes have done is just worthy of everyone&rsquo;s respect and recognition.&rdquo;
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, the majority of Ukraine&rsquo;s elite athletes were unable to continue training, let alone competing. But the country&rsquo;s athletes showed remarkable resilience and made the most of any support that came their way &ndash; including the Ukraine Relief Fund, which was launched in April by World Athletics, the International Athletics Foundation and the Diamond League Association.
Ukraine&rsquo;s elite athletes were then able to find alternative training locations in Europe and the rest of the world, and were ultimately able to compete at this year&rsquo;s major international events. Among their many medal successes in 2022, Yaroslava Mahuchikh took high jump gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, while Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk won the European triple jump title.
&ldquo;Our country and our federation are currently at the most difficult stage in our history,&rdquo; said Pronin. &ldquo;However, we understand that sport should not only live, it should develop. It&rsquo;s difficult to develop, but we have planned at least five sports festivals in Ukraine in December. Most of our athletes are based in other parts of Europe at the moment, and we&rsquo;d like to thank World Athletics and European Athletics for helping us. Things are still difficult but we know our target and we know how to achieve it.
&ldquo;Earlier this year our federation had a virtual board meeting and we decided that we wouldn&rsquo;t take part in international competitions in 2022 because we didn&rsquo;t know how our athletes and coaches would be able to travel,&rdquo; explained Pronin. &ldquo;But I then thought about it some more and after three days I felt like our athletes must represent Ukraine across the world, so I went back to our board and asked them to change our decision.
&ldquo;In every championships this year, our athletes have competed for medals, we have shown our flag, and we have heard our national anthem,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;But just as importantly, it has given people from our country an opportunity to talk to international media to let them know what is happening back in Ukraine.&rdquo;
Coe said that he could think of no one more deserving of this year&rsquo;s award than the Ukrainian federation and its athletes.
&ldquo;For the resistance and fortitude that your athletes have shown &ndash; supported by you, your federation and your coaches &ndash; that is why I felt absolutely impelled to present this year&rsquo;s President&rsquo;s Award to you and your federation,&rdquo; said Coe. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just the federation; it&rsquo;s the coaches, the administrators, and the support you had at a governmental level. Really this award is for all of you, but particularly for you, Yevhenii, for the extraordinary effort you&rsquo;ve made to primarily keep the athletes in competition and in training. It has been one of the greatest contributions that anyone has made to our sport in a very long time.&rdquo;
The President's Award, first awarded in 2016, recognises and honours exceptional service to athletics. Past winners of the award include British journalist Vikki Orvice, Swiss meeting director Andreas Brugger, Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt and Kenyan distance great Tegla Loroupe.
World Athletics

The Ukrainian Athletic Association has been awarded the President’s Award as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.

Ukrainian Athletic Association wins President’s Award

Former sprinter Donna Fraser, a champion for gender equality and the empowerment of women in athletics, has been named Woman of the Year as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
The two-time world 4x400m medallist and 2000 Olympic 400m fourth-place finisher was a force on the field of play and has shown that same drive and passion in numerous projects off the track.
A World Athletics gender leadership moderator since 2019, Fraser regularly features in the governing body&rsquo;s speaking panels and webinars on the topic, and frequently appears in the media to talk about diversity and inclusion.
She has held roles including equality, diversity and engagement lead at UK Athletics and in 2021 she received an OBE for services to equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
This year she served as head of inclusion and engagement for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, 24 years on from her bronze medal win at the Games in Kuala Lumpur. Fraser has also been a trustee, adviser and board member for many organisations such as the London Marathon Charitable Trust, Women&rsquo;s Sport Trust, British Athletes Commission, International Women&rsquo;s Group and Her Spirit.
&ldquo;Women have different skills to men, and we need that diversity of thought,&rdquo; Fraser said. &ldquo;Our sport is extremely diverse, so that has to be replicated across all levels.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy saying that we want more diversity in our sport, but what pathway is put in place to make sure that that is done? World Athletics has absolutely put its best foot forward to make sure that happens.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m honoured to be part of this (gender leadership) programme. I love making a difference to my peers and seeing women wanting to excel themselves.&rdquo;
The Woman of the Year Award gives recognition to those that have made an outstanding contribution to promoting the advancement of gender equality in athletics.
This year it is the second honour announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022. On Monday (28), Gennadii Zuiev was named winner of the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/awards/news/coaching-achievement-award-2022-gennadii-zuiev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coaching Achievement Award</a> and further announcements will be made in the coming days, ahead of the World Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars being revealed on Monday 5 December.
World Athletics

Former sprinter Donna Fraser has been named Woman of the Year as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022

Fraser wins Woman of the Year Award

World Athletics is pleased to announce the extension of its partnership with Pinsent Masons as its official supplier of legal services.
The four-year renewal, which will last until the end of 2027, was formally signed today (29) during the World Athletics Council Meeting in Rome, Italy, in an official ceremony attended by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, along with Pinsent Masons representatives Trevor Watkins and Julian Diaz-Rainey.
Pinsent Masons has been an official supplier to World Athletics and the World Athletics Series (WAS) Events since 2020. During that time, they have provided invaluable legal support to World Athletics, including at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 where they dealt with diverse matters ranging from advising on measures to protect against ambush marketing, queries on trademark issues, advising on the new licensing programme and other commercial matters.
More recently, they have been working on innovative projects including NFTs, and have been providing ongoing training to World Athletics staff and Member Federations on legal issues as well as soft skills development such as negotiating tactics and reading body language.
Coe said: &ldquo;We are very pleased to be extending our partnership with Pinsent Masons for another four years.
&ldquo;As the governing body for the sport of athletics, and with over 200 Member Federations scattered across the world, we need partners with the same global outlook and desire to deliver our sport to its maximum potential. Pinsent Masons is uniquely positioned to assist us with these goals as a global law firm who prioritises innovation and forward-thinking.
&ldquo;From delivering guidance and training on appropriate subjects, to raising the knowledge and skills of our sport&rsquo;s administrators both at our headquarters and around the globe, Pinsent Masons has now become an integral part of the World Athletics family, and we look forward to continuing to work closely together for the benefit of our sport until at least 2027.&rdquo;
Watkins, Head of Sports at Pinsent Masons, said: &ldquo;We are thrilled to be re-appointed to advise World Athletics until the end of 2027. Our work together in partnership is inspirational to our global team. Being able to support World Athletics across every continent and enabling the development of innovative solutions to support the sport is something we are immensely proud of. With shared values, a common desire to strive for high performance and an exciting series of events to look forward to, we are both delighted and appreciate the confidence World Athletics have placed in us by this early extension of our existing partnership.&rdquo;
World Athletics

World Athletics is pleased to announce the extension of its partnership with Pinsent Masons as its official supplier of legal services.

World Athletics extends partnership with Pinsent Masons until 2027

Gennadii Zuiev has been named as the recipient of the Coaching Achievement Award, the first winner to be announced as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
Despite the conflict in their home country of Ukraine, Zuiev continued to guide high jumper Andriy Protsenko to world and European medals in 2022, also working with other athletes to overcome the difficulties they faced.
A former national level high jumper himself, Zuiev turned to coaching in 1999 and started working with a 13-year-old Protsenko a few years later. Protsenko was a sprinter at the time, but Zuiev encouraged him to try the high jump and the 34-year-old has gone on to become a multiple world and European medallist, who has a PB of 2.40m.
Protsenko&rsquo;s most recent achievements are the bronze he claimed at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and the medal of the same colour he won at the European Championships in Munich. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/__j5yqx27C0" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Zuiev and Protsenko both live in the Kherson region of Ukraine and Protsenko spent around five weeks under the Russian occupation in March and April. Improvising with home-made equipment, he was still able to train and their hard work paid off when Protsenko made the podium in Oregon and Munich.
&ldquo;This award is a big surprise for me, but I&rsquo;m really satisfied and I&rsquo;m glad that the work of Andriy and I was highly regarded by World Athletics,&rdquo; said Zuiev.
&ldquo;We tried to keep fit, as we realised that the only thing we could do was to continue our routine job, aiming to prepare for international competitions as best as possible. Certainly, it was crazy difficult. It is difficult to even think about training and competition when there is a war in your own country. These thoughts haunted us constantly.
&ldquo;The world bronze medal is as good as gold for me and Andriy, especially taking into account what he had to overcome on the road to get it.&rdquo;
As well as guiding world-class athletes, Zuiev has delivered a number of seminars for Ukrainian coaches and in 2018 and 2019 he shared his two decades of experience as part of presentations on the topic of &lsquo;long term development of a world class high jumper&rsquo;.
The Coaching Achievement Award is the first of 10 honours celebrated as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022. Further announcements will be made in the coming days, ahead of the World Athletes of the Year and Rising Stars being revealed on Monday 5 December.
World Athletics

Despite the conflict in their home country of Ukraine, Zuiev continued to guide high jumper Andriy Protsenko to world and European medals in 2022

Zuiev receives Coaching Achievement Award

Setting the course for the &lsquo;next normal&rsquo; in running and mass participation events will be the focus of the second World Athletics Global Running Conference to be held at the Royal Paragon Hall in Bangkok, Thailand, between 1-3 December.
More than <a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/637f2af8563e5f3a6daa58da.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/637f2af8563e5f3a6daa58da.pdf">50 industry leaders and experts</a> will speak at the three-day event, which is expected to welcome 350 attendees including delegates representing around 50 World Athletics Label races.
The conference is being held in the lead-up to one of those races &ndash; the Amazing Thailand Marathon Bangkok &ndash; and follows the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships that took place in Chiang Mai earlier this month.
Trail running will be among the themes of the conference, as results from the most extensive report on trail running participation ever conducted are shared. The report, compiled by&nbsp;RunRepeat.com&nbsp;in collaboration with World Athletics, covers trail running race participation from 1984 to 2022 and includes 15.6 million race results from 116,947 races in 127 countries.
Featuring presentations, panel discussions and interviews, 'The Next Normal. Re-imagining the World of Running and Mass Participation' will also cover topics such as:
&bull; The social impact of running events &bull; Trends in active sport tourism &bull; Creating narratives with racecourse design &bull; Pro-running policies and their effects on public health outcomes &bull; The social and governance dimensions of sustainability &bull; Understanding how to release more value from running events for participants and partners &bull; The 360-degree participant experience &bull; Operational challenges in a post-Covid world
Chris Robb, founder and CEO of Mass Participation World, will deliver the opening keynote speech on Thursday 1 December, while Jakob Larsen, director of competitions and events at World Athletics, will close the conference with some final remarks on Saturday 3 December.
&ldquo;We look forward to welcoming old and new friends from the world of running in one of the fastest-growing markets for the sport,&rdquo; said Alessio Punzi, head of running and mass participation at World Athletics.
&ldquo;Attending the conference will mean great networking opportunities as usual, but I am once again particularly pleased about the programme we have put together.&rdquo;
There will be more than 50 industry leaders, researchers, marketers and technical experts from within and outside running, all willing to share what they know for the advancement of the sport.
Punzi said he was also grateful for the collaboration with the Mass Participation World Conference, as an opportunity to broaden horizons and expand networks.
Those interested in attending the World Athletics Global Running Conference in Bangkok can <a href="https://in.njuko.com/mpw-2022-conference?currentPage=select-competition" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://in.njuko.com/mpw-2022-conference?currentPage=select-competition">register online</a>. Road race organisers interested in participating can contact <a href="mailto:alessio.punzi@worldathletics.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="mailto:alessio.punzi@worldathletics.org">alessio.punzi@worldathletics.org</a> to enquire about complimentary packages.
World Athletics 
- <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-label-road-races/global-running-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-label-road-races/global-running-conference">Full conference programme</a>

More than 50 industry leaders and experts﻿ will speak at the three-day event

Innovation and mass participation in the spotlight at World Athletics Global Running Conference

The names of the five finalists for Men&rsquo;s World Athlete of the Year have been confirmed, as the countdown to the World Athletics Awards 2022 continues.
The five athletes, who represent five countries from three area associations, have achieved sensational performances across a range of athletics disciplines in 2022, at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, one-day meeting circuits and other events around the world.
The finalists are (in alphabetical order):
Mondo Duplantis, SWE - World pole vault champion indoors and outdoors - Diamond League and European pole vault champion - Improved his world record to 6.19m and 6.20m indoors, and then 6.21m outdoors
Soufiane El Bakkali, MAR - World 3000m steeplechase champion - Diamond League 3000m steeplechase champion - Unbeaten in 2022, running a world-leading 7:58.28 in Rabat
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, NOR - World 5000m champion, world 1500m silver medallist indoors and outdoors - European 1500m and 5000m champion - Ran a world indoor 1500m record of 3:30.60 and won the Diamond League title in a world-leading 3:29.02
Eliud Kipchoge, KEN - Improved his world marathon record to 2:01:09 - Berlin Marathon champion - Tokyo Marathon champion
Noah Lyles, USA - World 200m champion - Diamond League 200m champion - Ran a world-leading national record of 19.31 to move to third on the world all-time list 
<h3>Voting procedure for 2022 World Athletes of the Year</h3>
A three-way voting process determined the finalists.
The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans logged their decisions online via the World Athletics social media platforms where a record 1.3 million votes were registered.
The World Athletics Council&rsquo;s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the World Athletics Family&rsquo;s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result.
Voting closed on 31 October.
The World Athletes of the Year will be announced on World Athletics&rsquo; social media platforms in early December, as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022.
World Athletics

World Athletics is pleased to confirm the five finalists for Men's World Athlete of the Year