The World Athlete of the Year Award is one of the most elite accolades in the world of sports. The prize is exclusive to the sports of athletics organized by the organization, World Athletics. Sports that fall under the athletics category are Track and Field, Cross-country Running, Road Running, and Racewalking. In December 2022, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won this prestigious title in the female category.

Other female contenders for the 2022 title were Yulimar Rojas, Kimberley Garcia, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Tobi Amusan. McLaughlin had an incredible season in 2022, which she ended with a bang when she smashed the 400m hurdles world record by achieving a time of 50.68. While the general consensus was that she deserved the win, not everyone agrees.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce: the record breakers

McLaughlin had an incredible 2022 season and performed with such consistency, it was almost unbelievable. In the 2022 season, she broke not one, but two world records, and took the world by storm. But that was not all for the hurdler. she then decided to break her world own record yet again, not once, but on two separate occasions.

At the Music City Track Carnival Festival, she set a time of 51.61. She then proceeded to lower her own time twice. In June 2022, during the USATF Outdoor Championships, she was able to lower her time from 51.61 to 51.41. Then, in an even more astonishing feat, she got a time of 50.68 at the World Championships in July. In doing this, she achieved a win streak of seven meets, after her defeat during the 2019 World Championships. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was not the only one making waves that year.

Read more: “Trying to Psych me Out”: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was Intimidated by Another Parent to Show Off Her Skills at Son’s Sports Day

The supermom and star athlete, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce caught everyone’s attention when she completed the 100m race in 10.67 seconds, giving her the world’s six best times this year. Fraser-Pryce has been able to lower the 10.70 a record seven times in her career, and no other woman has been able to achieve that. Others have only gotten to four. She also won the Laureus Sports Woman of the Year award, in 2022. Without a doubt, both of them deserved to be in the final five nominees for the World Athlete of the Year Award. Did the best one win?

Months after, McLaughlin-Levrone’s win has come into question

A tweet was circulating around Twitter recently, which claimed that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce should have won the award, instead of McLaughlin-Levrone. The tweet was immediately attacked by fans, who were galled at the claim. A McLaughlin-Levrone supporter commented on the tweet saying:

The original poster argued that Sydney McLaughlin had competed for way too less times for her to be considered as a good choice for the award. However, another commentator disagreed and said:

Another follower compared McLaughlin’s achievements to those of the winner of World Athlete of the Year in the men’s category and found them to be pretty similar. Hence, they thought McLaughlin deserved the win.

A Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone fan broke down all her season achievements in the perfect manner and laid out all the reasons why the prize was awarded to her:

The major consensus in this thread seemed to be that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone got exactly what she deserved. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, it is difficult to argue with the record-setting season the hurdler exhibited. In the end, both McLaughlin and Fraser-Pryce are commendable athletes who have set exemplary standards for all others.