2023 may have been a pre-Olympic year but it still served up some of the most scintillating performances in the history of athletics.
World records fell in track, field and road events as newcomers shone and battle-worn champions continued to show just why they are the very best in the business.
While the main focus of the track & field calendar was August’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, there was no shortage of awe-inspiring performances throughout the calendar year.
Read on to look back on six of the best track & field performances of 2023.
2023 in track & field: Six of the best
Tigst Assefa and Kelvin Kiptum tear up the marathon record books
Simply put, the world of the marathon will never be the same after 2023.
In a giddy two-week period between the end of September and early October, both the women’s and men’s world records fell - and on both occasions to relative newcomers in the sport.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa didn’t just break the women’s world record, she obliterated it, coming home in Berlin in a time of 2 hours 11 minutes and 53 seconds - over two minutes faster than the previous mark.
Then a fortnight later, Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum broke the legendary Eliud Kipchoge’s world record with a run of 2:00:35 at the Chicago Marathon.
Both athletes were running in only their third-ever marathons when they broke the world record, and with Assefa only 27 years old and Kiptum 24, these are exciting times for the mythical 42.195km race.
Noah Lyles’ terrific treble at World Athletics Championships
The last man to do the 100m/200m/4x100m relay treble at the Worlds was none other than Jamaican great Usain Bolt back in 2015.
However, in 2023 the USA’s Noah Lyles repeated that feat with a thrilling display in the capital of Hungary.
Lyles was favourite for the 200m, having been crowned champion at the last World Champs a year earlier in Oregon, however, his performances in August represented the high point of his career so far.
The American will now enter the Olympic year as the favourite for the sprint titles at Paris 2024 and even hinted at running in the 4x400m relay at the next edition of the Games.
At 26 years old, he now has six world golds to his name and has risen to the position of the most exciting sprinter on the planet.
Faith Kipyegon dominates the middle distances
While Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon has made the 1500m her own at major championships, including two memorable golds over the distance at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, this past year has shown she has the adaptability to shine over distances she hasn’t been associated with before.
World records in the 1500m, 5000m and mile signalled the beginning of what would be a spectacular year for the 29-year-old who ended the season with golds in the 1500m and 5k at the Worlds.
To top things off, Kipyegon was crowned 2023 Diamond League champion in the 1500m, a title she also won in 2022, 2021 and 2017.
In recognition of her stellar 2023, she was named the female World Athlete of the Year at the annual World Athletics Awards in Monaco.
Ryan Crouser shatters own shot put world record
Not even two blood clots in his left leg could stop US shot put supremo Ryan Crouser in his quest for a second consecutive world title in Budapest as he came close to breaking his own world record of 23.56m set just months earlier at the Los Angeles Grand Prix.
Talking about that world record, the mammoth throw was 19 cm further than his previous best and you get the impression that it will take a more-than-heroic performance for any athlete to stop him winning a third consecutive Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
At 2.01m tall, Crouser is a giant of a man with the strength to match his considerable size. It wouldn’t surprise many if he continues to throw even farther in 2024 as he continues to dominate his sport.
Yulimar Rojas makes it four golds from four at the Worlds
If 2023 wasn’t a vintage year for Yulimar Rojas, it only goes to show the high standards Venezuela’s ‘Queen of the Triple Jump’ has set over the past years.
The 28-year-old added a fourth gold medal to her resume at this year’s World Athletics Championships and also became Diamond League champion for the third time in her career.
Rojas has a knack for being able to pull off a winning jump when it really matters, with her gold in Budapest coming after a final leap of 15.47m.
And while she cited the need for rest and recuperation as her reason for not going to the Pan American Games in Santiago, it will take a lot to stop the world record holder from retaining her Olympic title in Paris next August.
Duplantis raises bar in pole vault masterclass
What more can be said about Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis? The American-born Swede was once again in a league of his own in the pole vault adding a second world title to his medal collection following his victory last year in Oregon.
2023 also saw the athlete break his own world record twice, with the second a 6.23m leap at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in September.
Duplantis has made his sport look so easy that the question more often asked now is just how high he can jump, rather than whether he will break the world record again.
Paris 2024 offers him the opportunity to become a double Olympic champion after his victory in Tokyo in 2021. Can he do it? Few would bet against him.