Last year Noah Lyles took home the Athlete of the Year award, but it didn’t go over smoothly. Initially, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe’s decision to split the 2023 Athlete of the Year awards into three categories—track, field, and out of stadia—however, it upset many, including Lyles. The 100m Olympic gold champion felt the change was mishandled and didn’t respect athletes or the public. But since then, a year has passed, and now it seems like there’s another controversy about Coe.

Well, most recently, Sebastian Coe has announced his candidacy for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency, set for 2025. As World Athletics president, Coe joins a competitive race with six other contenders. Thomas Bach’s decision to step down has opened the door for a new leader, and Coe has expressed both excitement and honor at the prospect. He shared, “I’m excited and honoured to share with you that I’ll be running for the Presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as announced by the IOC a short while ago.”

Notably, Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe is the only woman among the candidates, aiming to lead an organization that has historically had only male presidents. Sebastian Coe, a two-time gold medalist, is in running with Coventry and Prince Feisal al-Hussein.

Others include Juan Antonio Samaranch, David Lappartient, Morinari Watanabe, and Johan Eliasch. Coe, who is the president of World Athletics, has been seen as a strong contender, despite facing potential legal hurdles due to the IOC’s age limit.

However, for Coe, “Sport plays a critical role in driving and maintaining the health and fitness of people, young and old, in every country around the world. But it faces significant challenges on multiple fronts,” Coe emphasized. He also acknowledged the numerous challenges that confront the sporting world on various fronts. To tackle these obstacles effectively, he emphasized the importance of making investments and placing an emphasis on the sports industry. Nevertheless, Sebastian Coe’s involvement has recalled age-old debate.

Sebastian Coe’s overhaul of Athlete of the Year awards draws criticism from Noah Lyles

Last year, Sebastian divided the 2023 Athletes of the Year awards into three parts, holding a poll among the athletes and insisting that there was consultation. The decision, which came as a shocker to the 10 finalists and observers, changed the traditional winners model of a single winner to awards under track and field, as well as out-of-stadia awards. This change elicited quite a negative action from the track and field fraternity, and this included Noah Lyles, who argued that the new change was not well explained and disregarded athletes and the voters.

Lyles took to X to voice his dissatisfaction: “I believe I found the right words for what happened at the AOY [Athlete of the Year] awards. When they decided to split the award without telling any of us, including the fans that voted. It made me feel that none of our achievements were good enough to be AOY,” Lyles wrote on X.

However, Coe seemed taken by the criticism and mentioned that the decision was influenced by conversations with athletes and their representatives during an interview with Nation Sport: “It is interesting because the athletes that I spoke to and that we communicated to, along with athletes’ representatives and managers, all wanted to impress upon us that the sport wasn’t just one discipline.” Despite the intentions behind the change, Noah Lyles and others felt that the abrupt shift diminished the prestige of the Athlete of the Year award. Nonetheless, Lyles ultimately received the award in track.