VOTING BY OUR 34-member international panel in this annual exercise — our 51st year of choosing a Women’s Athlete Of The Year — was scored on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis…
No. 3 last year in her first Top 10 appearance, versatile distance star Beatrice Chebet, who Ranked in the 1500 to add an event beyond her 5K/10K wheelhouse, earned the No. 1 spot.
Four Top 10 honorees from ’24 are back again: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Faith Kipyegon, Chebet and Valarie Allman. Kipyegon’s streak here is now at 5 in a row. McLaughlin Levrone and Allman have rated in 4 of the last 5 seasons.
The ’25 Women’s Top 10 (the detailed voting chart appears at the end of the article):
1. Beatrice Chebet (Kenya)
In a year with no shortage of great candidates Chebet was an easy winner as she became the first ever to notch a 5000/10,000 double Ranking leadership in consecutive years. She received 20 of the 34 votes for No. 1 as she topped both yearly lists and in a major bit of barrier-breaking at age 25 became the first under 14:00 at the shorter distance, rampaging her way to 13:58.06 at Pre. She also became second-fastest ever in the 3000 as she moved up from No. 3 in last year’s AOY voting.
2. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA)
Like Chebet, MJW won a pair of WC golds, in the 100 and 200 (she also led off the gold-winning 4×1, but our AOY protocol restricts consideration to individual events only). The 25-year-old Coastal Carolina alum received plenty of support at the top end of the voting chart with 6 No. 1s, 10 No. 2s and 8 No. 3s. The U.S. dominated the voting with 4 making the Top 10 but the undefeated Jefferson-Wooden was easily the top scorer among them and captures USAOY honors.
3. Faith Kipyegon (Kenya)
The Kenyan veteran, 31, continues to add to her string of high-end finishes here. She was No. 8 in ’17, then after several years away returned with a No. 5 in ’21, a No. 3 in ’22, a No. 1 in ’23, a No. 2 in ’24 and now a No. 3. Winner of gold in the WC 1500, she added a silver in the 5000. At the shorter distance she lowered her own WR to 3:48.68 and can now claim all 3 sub-3:50 performances ever. She also produced what T&FN considers to be the fastest 3000 ever, 8:07.04.
4. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA)
Whether or not you put barriers in her path, defending Athlete Of The Year SML went undefeated in 1-lap racing. She ran only twice in her old standby, the 400H, winning a pair of GST races, one in 52.07, a time only 3 other women have ever achieved. That earned her a No. 6 Ranking. But with her focus turned to the flat 400, she was even better there, running 47.78 to win WC gold. Only Marita Koch’s legendary WR of 47.60 from ’85 remains ahead of her on the all-time list.
5. Valarie Allman (USA)
To see it was a tough year to score well in the voting one need only look at Allman’s stats. The 30-year-old Stanford alum had a fabulous unbeaten streak of 14 meets, topped by an American Record 241-2 (73.52) that moved her to No. 6 on the all-time world list. The last time anyone had cracked the 240-foot barrier? How about ’89? 3 members of our international panel saw her worthy of No. 1, but as we said, this was a tough year and she ended up at No. 5, just a single spot ahead of her ’24 finish.
6. Anna Hall (USA)
The Jill Of All Trades made her debut in the Top 10 voting a solid one as No. 6. She had previously received some support in ’23, checking in at No. 17. Her placing this year is the highest by a heptathlete since Nafi Thiam’s No. 4 in ’17. Hall produced the year’s 3 highest scores, the best of them, a barrier-breaking 7032, giving her a share of No. 2 on the all-time world performers list. Her best individual event was the high jump, where she Ranked as No. 5 among Americans.
7. Femke Bol (Netherlands)
With WR holder McLaughlin-Levrone busy elsewhere, the 400H door was open for Bol to burst through and reclaim the No. 1 rating she scored in ’23. With SML around, her high water was runners-up placings in the years on either side of that. Not to downgrade the 25-year-old Dutch star’s accomplishments in any way. She was undefeated this year, going 9 for 9, cranking off the year’s 3 fastest times and 9 of 11. For good measure, she twice ran the flat 400 with sub-50s, the fastest of them making her =No. 9 on the yearly list.
8. Camryn Rogers (Canada)
Rogers becomes only the second Canadian woman ever to make the Top 10, hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep having appeared with a No. 8 in ’10. And she’s the first hammer thrower to appear since Anita Włodarczyk with a No. 9 in ’18. The 26-year-old Cal alum finished her season with 8 straight wins after her only loss of the season. Her final meet featured a big climax, winning WC gold with a mark that moved her to No. 2 on the all-time world list.
9. Mária Pérez (Spain)
With the 35K Walk still in its infancy (and with its predecessor, the 50 also being short lived) it’s tough to give those who tackle both events the same level of credit as those who double in traditional track events. Still, the Spanish perambulator did claim a pair of golds in an undefeated season and deserved her position here. She moved to No. 2 on the all-time list in the longer race. No. 11 in last year’s voting, the 29-year-old became the first walker in the Top 10 since Hong Liu’s No. 8 in ’15.
10. Faith Cherotich (Kenya)
The third Kenyan in this year’s Top 10 (the first time that has ever happened), Cherotich emerged as the globe’s top steeplechaser after several years of being near the top. She did lose one race, but destroyed her competition at the season’s last 2 races, in Zürich and Tokyo. Just 21, she dominated the DL Circuit, winning 3 races in addition to the big Swiss finale and moved to No. 4 on the all-time list, with the No. 5 performance ever.
