In July, it looked dark for Dalilah Muhammad who, after tripping, suffered a concussion just ten days before the US Championships, where she needed to place the top-3 for a ticket to the World Cup in Doha.
But that did not stop Muhammad, who came back and also broke the 16-year-old world record of 52.34 when she ran in 52.20. And she managed that ticket to Doha in the best way. The 29-year-old struck an improvement in her own record when she won at 52.16. In addition, she achieved the feat of breaking the world record twice on the 400 meter hurdles the same season since 1986.
- Every day I fought as hard as I could. It was a tough year, and we went through it and we got two world records. And now this (the prize for this year's athlete), it's been a good year, she says.
This year's male athlete became Kenyan marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, who in October became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours.