Track & Field News Announces 2014 Male T&F Athlete of the Year: Renaud Lavillenie, Le Roi de la perche

Mais Oui, C’est le roi de la perche! photo by PhotoRun.net

Bohdan Bondarenko finished second! photo by PhotoRun.net

Justin Gatlin, finished third, photo by PhotoRun.net

LAVILLENIE AHEAD OF BONDARENKO AND GATLIN

MOUNTAIN VIEW (USA): Renaud Lavillenie is after IAAF also Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News. He received 31 of 33 first places to get 99.4% of a perfect score. The other 2 No. 1s went to American sprinter Justin Gatlin, who nonetheless ended up only No. 3 overall because a pair of voters on our international panel felt his checkered drug past left him unsuitable for such honors. So second is Bogdan Bondarenko 265 and third Gatlin 259. Fourth Mutaz Essa Barshim 198. Very unusual fourth place for number two in his event. Fifth is Robert Harting 145 over Kenyan Jairus Birech 130 and US 400 m runner LaShawn Merritt 109. Last three places in top ten for Nijel Amos 90, Eliud Kipchoge 62 and Krisztian Pars 52. Overall, 20 different men received votes.

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(Editor’s note: Renaud Lavillenie set the standard for men in 2014. Nice to see two field eventers in lead in men’s events.)

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.

Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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