Swedish and American track and field superstars claim plaudits after year of their life

After an utterly sensational 2022, it’s no surprise that Mondo Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone have been named World Athletics’ athletes of the year.

Duplantis, 23, broke three world pole vault records and quite literally raised the bar. His first two marks – 6.19m and 6.20m – came in Belgrade, in the warm-up meet to and then the World Indoor Championships. The Swede then equalled his world outdoor best in front of a partisan home crowd at the Stockholm Diamond League before clearing 6.21m at the World Championships in Oregon.

The Hayward Field crowd were also treated to scintillating action from McLaughlin after the US 400m hurdling superstar took apart her own world record not once but twice. The first came at the USATF trials when she clocked 51.41 before breaking the 51-second barrier to run 50.68 at the World Championships on home soil.

To put that into context, she would’ve qualified in the flat 400m final in Eugene with such a time.

McLaughlin, 23, has now broken the world 400m hurdles record on four occasions in the space of two years. Before fellow American and double Olympic and world champion in the discipline Dalilah Muhammad set the world record in 2019, it had lasted for 16 years.

It’s a similar story for Duplantis. He has now broken the world record on five occasions. 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie was the last one before the Swede to hold it back in 2014. Before then, Sergey Bubka took the plaudits in 1994.

World records are not meant to be broken that easily. This dynamic duo, competing in substantially different disciplines, are masters of their craft and in a league of their own.

Duplantis aiming to reach for the stars 

The pole vault script has been re-written since Duplantis emerged on the scene but he is not finished yet and believes he can go higher.

As the Swede prepares for 2023, he has already analysed areas that he can improve on such as the speed of his take-off and has the option to go for a stiffer pole next season, potentially creating more accessibility for the greater heights.

“You want to peak physically at the right time,” Duplantis says. “Mentally as well, having a nice set of competitions before a big meet is crucial. My event is so technical and you need to get that practice in and figure it out.

“From the beginning I was never really competing against anybody other than myself. I set goals for myself and what I’m capable of. I’m grateful for what I’ve done but I have hunger and I still feel like I can jump higher.

“I need to work on speed in the take-off and I’m still trying to build upon that, being aggressive on the approach.”

Since he completed the set with a world gold medal in the discipline, he has had a documentary filmed after him called Born To Fly. It has provided the Swedish public, not necessarily track and field fans, an immersive look into his upbringing, journey in the sport and the highs and lows of an elite athlete.

Some pictures of Duplantis as a kid emerged and he can’t quite believe he’s the one now inspiring the next generation into the sport.

“It’s pretty wild that I’m already in a situation that I’ve done a lot of the things I’ve always wanted to do and I felt I could do,” he tells AW. “It’s why it feels surreal but at the same time it feels kind of real as I’ve truly believed I was always capable of the things I’ve done. I believed that from day one.

“Somebody has to go out and win these competitions so why couldn’t it be me? That was just always the mentality that I had when I started out pole vaulting. It’s truly amazing how things have worked out and I do not take it for granted. I’d be lying a bit if I said I was super surprised!”

McLaughlin could go even lower in 400m hurdles 

Now an athlete under the stewardship of legendary coach Bobby Kersee, McLaughlin is more confident than ever she can improve on a stunning 2022.

The question is whether that will be in the 400m or 400m hurdles but the American hasn’t yet made a decision and still believes she has unfinished business in the hurdles.

“In my head both distances are remaining options,” she says. “I think there’s so much more in the 400m hurdles but a lot of it is what my coach wants to do and he’s still figuring it out.

“Bobby [Kersee] is an established coach and an amazing talent. He knows the sport inside out and about me as an athlete. He has helped me mentally grow as a woman as well as an athlete and it’s showed in the performances we’ve had.”

Remarkably, McLaughlin still believes there is room for improvement and stated she made mistakes during her world record run of 50.68 which saw the American become world champion.

“Watching it back I was just telling myself to run when I couldn’t see anybody,” she says. “It was about decelerating the lowest. I think we knew that the number [50.68] was possible and I was just relieved we were able to put such a race together.

“I’d never felt so much pain in my whole life. I was really nervous I wouldn’t clear the 10th hurdle. That sitting down wasn’t that I wouldn’t celebrate but that I couldn’t!

“Not being able to celebrate in Tokyo was tough so having people cheering you in the crowd in Oregon was such a special feeling.”

Knighton and Vilagoš crowned best juniors in world 

Erriyon Knighton and Adriana Vilagoš have been named as World Athletics’ Rising Stars, awarded to the best U20 athlete of the year.

The pair have both won major championships medals at senior level this past summer and have also broken junior records in their disciplines.

Knighton, 18, claimed world 200m bronze in Oregon, becoming the youngest ever individual sprint medallist in world championship history. He stole the headlines with a truly stunning season opener of 19.49 – a time that now places him fifth on the all-time list – but he backed it up with a major medal in Eugene and then a Diamond League win in Brussels.

His time of 19.69, which he clocked at the World Championships (pending ratification), would also be an improvement on his own world U20 200m record.

Vilagoš won a European silver javelin medal in Munich and also became a double world U20 champion after retaining her title in Cali.

She achieved an astonishing 11 world junior bests in the year, finished in the top three in 15/16 competitions and her personal best of 63.52m was a European junior record.

Knighton wants to emulate the greats 

From Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis to Michael Johnson and Noah Lyles, the US have produced some of the greatest 200m sprinters in history. Knighton now aims to join that club and targets an Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024.

Johnson, a quadruple Olympic and eight-time world champion, has praised Knighton on many occasions in the past and described him as a “very, very rare talent.”

“[That’s great], especially coming from Michael Johnson,” Knighton says. “He’s done it all and he knows what it was like to run fast and I’m doing my best to become Olympic champion.

“Getting my first world medal was special. Even though I didn’t get the win, it gave me more hunger for the medals. You can run the fastest time of the season, hold it but at the end of the day it’s about the right time and the right moment.

For me it’s strength work. I still have a lot left in the 200m. My races haven’t been perfect and it’s about putting my race plan together. If I can do that then I see myself being one of the greats.

Knighton that he’s working on bulking up through more strength and conditioning and is now focusing on solely sprinting training, having usually mixed it up with American football in the past before.

Bolt’s world 200m record of 19.19, three tenths quicker than Knighton’s personal best, may be on the radar.

“What does it mean to break the 200m world record?,” Knighton adds. “I just don’t see myself stopping right now and I can do as well. I think I can drop my 200m a lot. If I did meet him I think it would be about the race plan!”

Vilagoš inspired by Špotáková

At the European Championships, Vilagoš only finished below fellow youth sensation Elina Tzengko and beat the now retired javelin great Barbora Špotáková.

The 41-year-old is a double Olympic and three-time world champion and dominated the event for over a decade.

She was the role model for when Vilagoš started out in the sport.

“I was very happy to win both titles,” she says. “I didn’t expect that [result] at the European Championships. “We always have things to improve. I need to work on my technique and there’s room for improvement there.

“I was three when she [Špotáková] won it [first world title in Osaka] and to beat her was truly unbelievable.”

Vilagoš started out her path to javelin success by throwing a vortex – a small, egg shaped foam missile with an aerodynamic tail – when she was a kid.

Add handball to that mix and it’s not hard to find out where her impressive eye-hand coordination comes from.

“I played both [handball and vortex] when I was younger, and watched javelin on my laptop/TV to make sure I knew the technique,” she adds.

“What seemed in the beginning impossible now seems possible and dream big.”