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Athlete of the Year - Bohdan Bondarenko

Athlete of the Year - Bohdan Bondarenko

Dec 31, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff
Athlete of the Year - Bohdan Bondarenko
Bohdan Bondarenko is Flotrack’s Athlete of the Year.

Stop. I already know the look on your face. It’s disbelief. It’s like the time I told a classroom of small children that Hitler was once a homeless artist, or that before Mo Farah was a dominant force on the world stage, he looked like this.

But Bondarenko had an incredible year. I’m a bit upset that Track and Field News just named him their Athlete of the Year because I was hoping the thunder would be all ours. Even though their voting process is based on a point system and ours is more subjective, we think Bondarenko’s selection by “The Bible of the Sport” justifies our selection as well.

Like most open debates, we’ll start with giving the definitive answer first. Even though Bondarenko didn’t win two gold medals at the World Championships - let alone three - or defend his multiple World or Olympic titles, he had a career year in every sense of the word.

He challenged the world record not once, but twice, was consistently atop his game, won gold in Moscow, recorded nine of his best ten jumps ever, and for extra emphasis, he challenged the world record twice. Twice. 

If you're still unconvinced, we’ll list the credentials of the three nominations from the track and end with our winner from the field. Here’s why Bondarenko won over the likes of Usain Bolt, Mo Farah, and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. 
Usain Bolt



The Reasons Why He Should Win:

1) He became the first man to win the 100m and 200m double on two occasions 
2) He became the first athlete to win a third consecutive World 200m title
3) He moved atop the all-time world championships medal table with eight golds and two silvers.

By The Numbers

# of races in 2013: 13
# of wins in 2013: 12
# of gold medals in Moscow: 3
# of personal top 10 marks in the 100m: 1
# of personal top 10 marks in the 200m: 0

The Reason Why He Didn’t Win

In Bolt-terms, he didn’t have to try very hard to win. “I’m all about winning championships so it’s not just about times. I try to run fast always because I know that fans want fast times, but if I can run 20 flat to win the 200m in the championships, I’m ok with it.  It’s all about winning the gold medals,” Bolt told the IAAF after his 200m win.

The IAAF also added that “It was the slowest of his two Olympic and now three World 200m title wins.”

When Bolt retires, will he be the greatest of all-time? Yes. But in 2013 was Bolt the best athlete in track and field? No.

Though he only took one individual loss all year, Bolt barely broke into his top ten marks. “How can you fault him for doing what just what it took to win?” you may ask.

We agree with both you, the reader, and Bolt when we say that medals do matter. But there were other competitors this year that were almost undefeated, won medals, and broke into not just their personal top ten, but a legendary top ten.

What Could He Have Done To Win

Replicate or come close to vintage, world record breaking Bolt.
Mo Farah



The Reasons Why He Should Win:

1) He became the second man in history to complete the Olympic and World “double-double” in the 5k and 10k.
2) He broke Steve Cram’s 28-year old British 1500m record and now sits at #6 all-time in the event.

By The Numbers

# of races in 2013: 12
# of wins in 2013: 9
# of gold medals in Moscow: 2
# of personal top 10 marks in the 3k: 1
# of personal top 10 marks in the 5k: 1

The Reasons Why He Didn’t Win

Farah only lost three times all year, with just one coming in his main event (his loss to Edwin Soi at the Prefontaine 5k). The other second place finishes came from Asbel Kiprop in the Monaco 1500m (Kiprop ran #4 all-time, so, yeah...) and Kenenisa Bekele at the Great North Half Marathon.

But other than his 1500m, Farah never really went for it this year. Not to say that you have to run fast to win our Athlete of the Year, but something other than tactical performances go a long way.

What Could He Have Done To Win

Run a time trial at the end of the year in either the 3k, 5k, or 10k. Instead, he ran a half marathon and lost to another great: Bekele.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce



The Reasons Why She Should Win

1) She became the first woman in world championships history to sweep the sprint events (100m, 200m, and 4x100m).
2) She was #1 in the world at both the 100m and 200m.

By The Numbers

# of individual races in 2013: 13
# of individual wins in 2013: 10
# of gold medals in Moscow: 3
# of personal top 10 marks in the 100m: 3
# of personal top 10 marks in the 200m: 5

The Reasons Why She Didn’t Win

SAFP had a banner year, capped off by being crowned the 2013 World Female Athlete of the Year. With her historic triple sweep, world leading marks, and number of top ten personal marks, why couldn’t she break up the boys club and win our Athlete of the Year?

Though she was perfect when it mattered most, her season-long record wasn’t immaculate. A fourth place finish at the London Diamond League 100m, a second place finish at the 200m at the same meet, and a third place finish at the Monaco Diamond League 200m may have all been off-days, but we’re looking for something a little more. 

Something not quite perfect, but close enough.

What Could She Have Done To Win

Lose less, or never.
Bogdan Bondarenko



The Reasons Why He Should Win

1) He jumped 2.41m in Lausanne, which was the sixth highest leap in the history of the event.
2) He jumped 2.41m at the World Championships, which was the sixth highest leap in the history of the event.
3) He’s #4 all-time in the high jump behind the legendary Javier Sotomayor, Patrik Sjoberg, and Igor Paklin.
4) His winning jump earlier in 2013 at the London Diamond League put him at 13th all-time.

By The Numbers

# of jumps in 2013: 13
# of wins in 2013: 12
# of gold medals in Moscow: 1
# of personal top 10 marks in the high jump: 9

The Reasons Why He Won

Here are the top ten high jump marks of all-time (via alltime-athletics.com):
1   2.45    Javier Sotomayor   CUB   13.10.67    1   Salamanca   27.07.1993
2   2.44    Javier Sotomayor   CUB   13.10.67    1   San Juan    29.07.1989
3   2.43    Javier Sotomayor   CUB   13.10.67    1   Salamanca   08.09.1988
4   2.42    Patrik Sjöberg     SWE   05.01.65    1   Stockholm   30.06.1987
4   2.42    Javier Sotomayor   CUB   13.10.67    1   Sevilla     05.06.1994
6   2.41    Igor Paklin        KGZ   15.06.63    1   Kobe        04.09.1985
6   2.41    Javier Sotomayor   CUB   13.10.67    1   La Habana   25.06.1994
6   2.41    Javier Sotomayor   CUB   13.10.67    1   London      15.07.1994
6   2.41    Bogdan Bondarenko  UKR   30.08.89    1   Lausanne    04.07.2013
6   2.41    Bogdan Bondarenko  UKR   30.08.89    1   Moskva      15.08.2013

Here are Bondarenko’s top ten marks in the high jump. We’ve bolded the ones not set in 2013 (via tilastopaja.org).
2.41 		1	Lausanne	4 Jul 2013
2.41 		1	Moskva		15 Aug 2013
2.38 		1	London		26 Jul 2013
2.36 		1	Birmingham	30 Jun 2013
2.34 		1=	Berdychiv	6 Sep 2013
2.33 		1	Doha		10 May 2013
2.33 		2	Shanghai	18 May 2013
2.33 		1	Zürich		29 Aug 2013
2.31 		1	Mykolaiv	17 Jun 2012
2.31 		1	Rovereto	3 Sep 2013

Get the picture?

Bondarenko did take one loss this season, though. At the Shanghai Diamond League, Bondarenko missed once at 2.33m and therefore finished runner-up to Mutaz Essa Barshim. Did we mention that later that season, Barshim would jump 2.40m, which ties him for fifth highest jumper all-time?

Not a bad guy to take a loss to.

What Could He Have Won To Convincingly Win

Break arguably the hardest world record, which is embedded below.
 
 
All four candidates deserved the award, and in full disclosure, no one actually definitively won our vote for Athlete of the Year. To add a little hilarity to choosing Bondarenko, we realized that we don't even have an interview with him from the past year. Whoops.

But if you just look at 2013 by itself and exclude all of the historical “double-doubles” and “triple-triples,” Bondarenko had the greatest single season of every athlete in the track and field world. That's why he's our 2013 Athlete of the Year.

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