It was a relentless, strength-sapping endurance test, but an action-packed 2022 was precisely what athletics needed, says Katharine Merry

What’s the first thing I think of when I look back on 2022? Outside of being incredibly busy in my professional life, the memories of some truly outstanding athletics moments – the kind that made me think “wow, this is a great sport” – come flooding back. 

There was Jake Wightman’s unforgettable world title win and witnessing Eilish McColgan being roared to Commonwealth 10,000m victory in Birmingham, but also moments like Germany’s Niklas Kaul coming from behind to win the European decathlon title in Munich. At one point he was orchestrating the whole of that crowd in the Olympic stadium and it was so uplifting to see. 

For every major championships this year I can think of at least two or three moments which made me feel privileged to have been able to see these back-to-back sporting feasts.

And, oh, how the sport needed a year like this. For one reason or another, athletics has taken a battering over the last few years and understandably there has been a substantial amount of negativity around. 

It has not been all sunshine and roses this summer, either, but it has been made abundantly clear that there is so much to be positive about in track and field. Were those Russian athletes really missed, for example?

The sport is undoubtedly in a better place at the moment, both internationally and in British terms. This past 12 months has seen extraordinary changes at our governing body. It feels simultaneously like five minutes and also years ago that I was interviewing the former UK Athletics chief executive Jo Coates about her plans for the sport and how she was going to shake things up. 

She certainly did that but perhaps not in the way many had hoped and, of course, there has been huge upheaval since then. The dramatic way in which things have changed has felt like a bit of a soap opera. 

What a difference a year makes. There is clearly a feeling of far greater stability at the top, with Ian Beattie and Mark Munro working through the transition before the arrival of Jack Buckner as chief executive during the summer. I know British Swimming were very sorry to lose him and you can appreciate why – in the short time he’s been in charge there has already been a huge amount of work done behind the scenes, which marries nicely with the excellent performances from British athletes on the track and in the field. 

Are we out of the woods yet? Of course not, but there is just a far greater feeling of balance and being able to look forward, rather than the constant firefighting of old. 

The athletes just got on with it and many produced the goods but now is the time of year when the reset button is hit and the process of trying to do it all again comes around. 

I was never a fan of this time of year, but that’s probably to do with me being a sprinter. We’d have had at least three weeks off at the end of the season and then coming back to do three-mile runs was never fun. Everybody knows how hard it is to gain peak fitness and you lose it twice as quickly!

What I did like, though, was getting back into the routine, knowing what my training week looked like and working to my plan. The old adage that you get out what you put in really is true, folks, but seeing the pictures on social media of athletes stuck to the track or getting back into training brings a rueful smile to my face. I don’t miss those days. 

The differing approaches of each athlete serves as a reminder of just how individual a sport this is, though. For some, they’ll have needed a complete break and done absolutely nothing. For others, continuing to tick over is what works best. 

It’s a hard balance to strike, especially if your season has gone well, because when you’re on a roll or you get any form of consistency you don’t really want it to stop. 

Part of you is thinking “I might never be able to do this again” and you want to hold on to it. 

You look at someone like Eilish McColgan, for example, and I don’t know how she does it. 

She has her different phases of training, of course, but she just never seems to really stop. 

What she’s doing is clearly working, though, and each athlete’s motivation comes from a different place. Here’s hoping the groundwork being laid just now will bring more reasons to be cheerful in 12 months’ time. 

Mondo and Yulimar get my vote

My athletes of the year? When it comes to the Brits, it’s a pretty simple choice for the men. No one else comes close to Jake Wightman winning a world title. Picking a winner on the women’s side, however, is infinitely harder. 

I can narrow it down to a top three of Laura Muir, Keely Hodgkinson and Eilish McColgan but I really do find it impossible to choose between the three of them. I think that in itself tells a wonderful story, though, and perhaps underlines just how good a year it has been. 

For the international awards, my vote would go to two field eventers who showed incredible longevity in 2022. Both Mondo Duplantis and Yulimar Rojas set world records at the World Indoor Championships in March but were still winning gold at the World Championships in July and picking up Diamond League titles in September. 

Mondo, of course, broke his world record three times this year and I really do hope the athletics world doesn’t get complacent about what he’s doing right now. Just because no-one can get anywhere near him should not detract from the fact that he is reaching an extraordinary level.

It’s the same for Yulimar. I think she’s really underrated and the field eventers really do deserve to be shown a bit more appreciation.