That is Deji Ogeyingbo’s characteristic on high Ten US Male Athletes in 2023 (numbers 10-6).
High 10 US Male Athlete of the Yr 2023 (10-6)
Over the previous month, now we have been highlighting a number of the finest athletes to make their mark this yr in Observe and Subject, and having compiled the listing of the High feminine athletes of the yr within the US, it’s now time to try the male athletes which have made their marks this yr.
With out additional ado, listed here are the highest 10 male monitor and area athletes of 2023.
10. Christopher Nilsen
Since successful the Olympic Silver in Tokyo two years in the past, Christopher Nilsen continues to develop in leaps and bounds. Granted, the Pole Vaulter is aware of it’s a tall order to usurp the supremely gifted Mondo Duplantis. Nevertheless, he has discovered a technique to combine and match issues with the Swede each season.
Nilsen completed the yr ranked quantity three on the earth and is just one of many few athletes to have claimed victory over Duplantis in current occasions. This yr, the American beat him twice; on the Monaco Diamond League and through the qualifiers of the world championships in Budapest.
After claiming Silver on the 2022 World Championships, Nilsen got down to usurp Duplantis. In an exhilarating contest, which served as one of many highlights of the championships, the Swede as soon as once more gained the title, leaving Asian champion Ernest Obiena and Nilsen to accept joint Bronze after they each cleared 5.95m.
Whereas Nilsen is definitely targeted on the approaching subsequent yr’s Olympics in Paris, he additionally seeks to eclipse KC Lightfoot’s American report. The 23-year-old Missouri vaulter lately set the brand new mark in Nashville on June 2, flying 6.07m. Nilsen’s Private Finest stands at 6.00m.
9. JuVaughn Harrison
As with most top-tier athletes in athletics, it’s common to see them compete in numerous occasions. Nevertheless, one not often sees an athlete who does the Lengthy Soar and Excessive Soar at main championships. JuVaughn Harrison is one athlete who has discovered a technique to combine and match each occasions.
Harrison competed in each the excessive leap and lengthy leap on the Olympic Summer season Video games Tokyo 2020 in 2021, making the ultimate in every occasion. In August, the American captured the silver within the Excessive leap on the World Championships, together with his eye on Paris 2024.
In 2023, Harrison was extra within the Excessive Soar. His season was as flawless as they got here, as he picked up wins in Doha, Florence, and London, leaping above 2.30m in all of them. The US Championships in Oregon was a cakewalk for him as he scaled 2.26m for the title.
It was, nevertheless, in Budapest that Harrison put up a present. In what was an enthralling remaining, having certified with ease two days earlier, the Louisiana State College graduate fended off competitors for three-time world champion Mutaz Barshim to say the Silver with a finest leap of two.35m with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi taking Gold by 1 centimeter.
8. Joe Kovacs
It’s onerous to quantify with numbers how onerous it’s for Shot Putters to persistently keep on the high. One athlete who has discovered a technique to discover himself within the combine at world competitions is Joe Kovacs. The 34-year-old continues to point out his resilience on the very high, and his efficiency this yr additional accentuates his degree of consistency over the past decade.
Having turn out to be a dad or mum in 2022 and in addition breaking the magical 23m mark when he reached 23.23m on the Diamond League remaining in Zurich final yr, Kovacs entered 2023 with a lot confidence as he appeared to win his third world title after triumphs in Beijing in 2015 and Doha in 2019.
Kovacs had a patchy run of outcomes heading into the world championships however posted one other world-class efficiency on the World Athletics Championships. The Nazareth native made the rostrum with a third-place end. His throw was 22.12m. American Ryan Crouser, the world report holder, set a world championship meet report with a successful throw of 23.51m.
His greatest win of the yr got here on the Diamond League remaining in Oregon. Kovacs bested world champion and world report holder Crouser by lower than an inch to win in 22.93m.
7. Christian Coleman
Up to now, no sprinter on the grid can match the beginning of the Christian Coleman. Since his final world title in 2019, through which he ran his Private Better of 9.76s, the American has continued to hunt that type of kind that made him the world champion 4 years in the past.
Over time, Coleman has made a mark for persistently working underneath sub-10 secs within the 100m. In 2023, dipped underneath the magical mark 9 occasions, however as we all know, the world championships matter probably the most. Coleman wanted to make amends for his sixth-place end on house soil in 2022.
Having completed second on the Nationwide trials, Coleman went to Budapest with a mission to get again to reckoning. Though the heats and semis have been a cakewalk for him, the 60m world indoor report holder got here unstuck within the remaining as he completed fifth in 9.92s.
Coleman ended his season with a bang as he gained the Diamond League in Xiamen however, extra importantly, was holding off a charging Noah Lyles to win his first Diamond League Trophy in 5 years on house soil in Eugene, claiming the scalp of reigning world champion Lyles in a world-leading time of 9.83s. He shared the world-leading time with Lyles and Nice Britain’s Zharnel Hughes in 2023.
6. Yared Nuguse
Yared Nuguse, America’s lowkey monitor celebrity. 2023 was the yr he got here out in full drive and the monitor world took be aware of him as he outran his expectations this yr. To assume that solely a yr in the past, he wasn’t even desirous about changing into an expert athlete.
The indicators he was going to have a powerful yr began as early as January. In January, he set a brand new American report within the indoor 3,000 meters, working 7:28.23. He ran the second-fastest indoor mile in historical past in February, ending the Millrose Video games Wanamaker Mile in 3:47.38. In Could, at a Diamond League meet in Rabat, he set a brand new private finest within the 1,500, working 3:33.02.
He adopted it up with the US title, positioned fifth in his first World Championships remaining over 1500m (in 3:30.25), and that ended it with an astonishing 3:43.97-mile AR chasing Jakob Ingebrigtsen to the road in September’s Diamond League Last. Alongside the best way within the Oslo DL 1500, Nuguse additionally raced the quickest 1500 by an American, 3:29.02. Nuguse additionally took Diamond League wins in London and Zürich.
What a yr it was for Nuguse!