Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (© Getty Images)
As the year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2023 in each area of the sport.
The series continues with a review of the hurdles and steeplechase, and will be followed over the coming days by reviews of all the other event groups.
Men’s 110m hurdles
Season top list
| 12.93 | Hansle Parchment (JAM) | Eugene | 17 September |
| 12.94 | Rasheed Broadbell (JAM) | Kingston | 9 July |
| 12.96 | Cordell Tinch (USA) | Fayetteville | 23 June |
| 12.96 | Grant Holloway (USA) | Budapest | 21 August |
| 13.01 | Daniel Roberts (USA) | New York | 24 June |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Grant Holloway (USA) | 1490 |
| 2 | Hansle Parchment (JAM) | 1455 |
| 3 | Daniel Roberts (USA) | 1431 |
| 4 | Shunsuke Izumiya (JPN) | 1417 |
| 5 | Freddie Crittenden (USA) | 1395 |
World medallists
| 🥇 | Grant Holloway (USA) | 12.96 SB |
| 🥈 | Hansle Parchment (JAM) | 13.07 |
| 🥉 | Daniel Roberts (USA) | 13.09 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Grant Holloway (USA) 12.96
Wanda Diamond League: Hansle Parchment (JAM) 12.93
Asian Championships: Shunya Takayama (JPN) 13.29
South American Championships: Eduardo de Deus (BRA) 13.59
Pan-American Games: Eduardo de Deus (BRA) 13.67
Asian Games: Yaqoub Al-Youha (KUW), Shunya Takayama (JPN) 13.41
Season at a glance
Grant Holloway became only the second man to win three consecutive world 110m hurdles titles in the year that the first, his US compatriot Greg Foster, died.
Now he is one away from the total accumulated by another US hurdler, Allen Johnson.
Only third on the world list for the year heading into the World Championships – behind Jamaica’s Commonwealth champion Rasheed Broadbell, who crashed out in the first-round heats and his own rapidly-emerging teammate Cordell Tinch, who failed to make it beyond the semi-finals – the world indoor record-holder ultimately made his championship pedigree tell.
First to rise, as usual, Holloway was already in the ascendant by the opening barriers. Despite his slowing on the run-in as Hansle Parchment, who had beaten him to the Olympic title in Tokyo two years earlier, closed in, Holloway crossed first in a season’s best of 12.96.
The Jamaican took silver in 13.07, with bronze going to Holloway’s compatriot Daniel Roberts in 13.09.
It was suitable recompense for Roberts for his experience in the previous year’s World Championships, where he crashed out in the first round, fresh from beating Holloway to the US title.
Despite his earlier-than-planned exit, Tinch was philosophical as he reflected upon his progress since taking up the sport full time.
Having started the year as a horizontal jumper with the Kansas Jayhawks college track and field team, he found his third-string event – in which he entered the season with a 13.63 personal best – to be his best, breaking Holloway’s NCAA record with 12.96 at the Arkansas Grand Prix in June.
“Seven months ago was my last day at work selling cell phones, so competing against the best hurdlers in the world feels special,” he said. “I would not have changed this for anything.”
Parchment finished the season strong, winning the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Zurich in 12.96 and then winning the Final in Eugene in a world lead of 12.93.
Women’s 100m hurdles
Season top list
| 12.24 | Kendra Harrison (USA) | Budapest | 22 August |
| 12.30 | Nia Ali (USA) | Monaco | 21 July |
| 12.31 | Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR) | Los Angeles | 27 May |
| 12.33 | Tobi Amusan (NGR) | Eugene | 17 September |
| 12.36 | Masai Russell (USA) | Austin | 1 April |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR) | 1450 |
| 2 | Tobi Amusan (NGR) | 1434 |
| 3 | Kendra Harrison (USA) | 1428 |
| 4 | Danielle Williams (JAM) | 1416 |
| 5 | Nia Ali (USA) | 1385 |
World medallists
| 🥇 | Danielle Williams (JAM) | 12.43 |
| 🥈 | Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR) | 12.44 |
| 🥉 | Kendra Harrison (USA) | 12.46 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Danielle Williams (JAM) 12.43
Wanda Diamond League: Tobi Amusan (NGR) 12.33
Asian Championships: Jyothi Yarraji (IND) 13.08
South American Championships: Caroline Tomaz (BRA) 13.26
Pan-American Games: Andrea Vargas (CRC) 13.06
Asian Games: Lin Yuwei (CHN) 12.74
Season at a glance
Eight years after earning a surprise world title in Beijing, ahead of opponents with faster records, Danielle Williams of Jamaica did it again in Budapest.
At the age of 22, Williams had taken gold in the Chinese capital in a then personal best of 12.57 which placed her eighth on that year’s world list; in 2023 a season’s best of 12.43 did the trick again, placing her joint-ninth on thi’s year’s list.
The 30-year-old from St Andrew demonstrated her status as a championship racer again as she defeated a field that included the Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, the defending champion and world record-holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, the 2019 world champion Nia Ali and the former world record-holder Kendra Harrison, both of the United States.
Camacho-Quinn had begun the season in top form, winning at the Wanda Diamond League meetings in Doha and Lausanne, with Amusan then taking the honours in Stockholm and Silesia before Ali earned victory in Monaco in a world lead of 12.30.
Williams was hardly talking her chances up beforehand, commenting that she had been racing her rivals all year “and they have been kicking me left, right and centre.”
Soon enough, however, the boot was on the other foot. First, though, there was a big marker laid down by Harrison, whose 12.20 in 2016 was a world record for six years. She stormed the heats with a 12.24, which replaced Ali’s world lead – and remained in place until the end of the season. The 30-year-old from Tennessee also topped the semi-finals with 12.33, as Camacho-Quinn recorded 12.41.
Quickest out in the final – despite clattering the first hurdle – was world indoor silver medallist Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas, who had set a national record of 12.44 in the heats.
But as Camacho-Quinn and Harrison gave chase, Williams was making serious gains in lane two, drawing level with the Bahamian by the fifth hurdle and taking a clear lead by the seventh.
Camacho-Quinn and Harrison finished strongly, with the former being involved in a photo finish with Williams which gave gold to the latter.
The Olympic champion, a silver medallist at the previous year’s World Championships. was 0.01 slower, with Harrison claiming bronze in 12.46, with Charlton finishing fourth in 12.52.
As Williams saw her name flash up first, she screamed and sprinted away in celebration.
“I knew it was going to be tough. I came out here knowing that I could win, but I would have to give everything I had. I still don't believe I won against such a stellar field,” said Williams.
“When I won in 2015 it was unbelievable, but this took a lot of hard work, a lot of years of toil and injuries, and losing my confidence and battling to get back to this stage.”
Suitably inspired, Williams won her first Diamond League race of the season, clocking 12.54 in Zurich.
The Wanda Diamond League Final was won by Amusan in 12.33.
Men’s 400m hurdles
Season top list
| 46.39 | Rai Benjamin (USA) | Eugene | 16 September |
| 46.51 | Karsten Warholm (USA) | Monaco | 21 July |
| 47.26 | Kyron McMaster (IVB) | Banska Bystrica | 20 July |
| 47.34 | Roshawn Clarke (JAM) | Budapest | 21 August |
| 47.38 | Alison Dos Santos (BRA) | Budapest | 21 August |
| 47.38 | Trevor Bassitt (USA) | Budapest | 21 August |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Karsten Warholm (NOR) | 1531 |
| 2 | Rai Benjamin (USA) | 1473 |
| 3 | Kyron McMaster (IVB) | 1468 |
| 4 | Alison Dos Santos (BRA) | 1426 |
| 5 | CJ Allen (USA) | 1406 |
World medallists
| 🥇 | Karsten Warholm (NOR) | 46.89 |
| 🥈 | Kyron McMaster (IVB) | 47.34 |
| 🥉 | Rai Benjamin (USA) | 47.56 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Karsten Warholm (NOR) 46.89
Wanda Diamond League: Rai Benjamin (USA) 46.39
Asian Championships: Bassem Hemeida (QAT) 48.64
South American Championships: Matheus da Silva (BRA) 49.44
Pan-American Games: Jaheel Hyde (JAM) 49.19
Asian Games: Abderrahman Samba (QAT) 48.04
Season at a glance
A year after being “humiliated” by finishing seventh at the World Championships in Oregon, Olympic champion and world record-holder Karsten Warholm regained his pride, and his world 400m hurdles title.
He also became the first man to win a third world gold in this event, surpassing the total of two he had shared with US athletes Ed Moses and Kerron Clement, and Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic.
But while the result – as he finished comfortably clear in 46.89 – made it look like business as usual for the 27-year-old Norwegian, the manner of his victory was very different than that of previous triumphs.
Rather than powering out and defying anyone to catch him, Warholm ran relatively conservatively in the first half of the race before accelerating down the final straight.
The lead at halfway was held by 26-year-old Rai Benjamin, the US athlete who had taken silver behind him at the 2019 World Championships and at the Olympics in 2021, and who had also finished second behind Alison dos Santos of Brazil in the previous year’s world final.
But Benjamin faded to third place in 47.56 as double Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands came through for silver in 47.34.
The final had been preceded by the men’s 1500m final, where Warholm’s compatriot and fellow Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen suffered a second successive shock defeat in a world final. But there was never going to be a second Norwegian disappointment on the night.
Dos Santos finished fifth in 48.10 – a highly creditable performance given that he had had to recover from a serious knee injury requiring surgery early in the year, returning to top-class action earlier than expected.
To that extent, the Brazilian’s experience mirrored that of Warholm the year before when he had to recover from a hamstring injury incurred in his opening meeting of the summer season, six weeks before the World Championships.
Having missed so much racing in 2022, Warholm had made another significant foray into indoor competition earlier in 2023, regaining the European indoor 400m title.
This time around, his preparation for the outdoor World Championships went ideally as he earned a series of victories in the Wanda Diamond League, setting a Diamond League record of 46.52 in Oslo, clocking 47.57 to win in Stockholm and then knocking another 0.01 off the Diamond League record in Monaco less than a month before the World Championships began.
His Monaco time was the second-fastest time of his career behind the 45.94 world record that earned him Olympic gold in Tokyo.
“I feel like the gold medal is back where it belongs,” Warholm said. “It's an amazing feeling.
“It was the perfect run for me. I was able to keep my form in the first 250m and I know that the guys were running their asses off and would be very tired. It was just left for me to turn on the turbos over the last 100m and the race was mine.
“They went out super hard but I knew they were going to get it tough in the end. I knew I would have the most left on the home stretch.
“Every gold medal means a lot to me but this one is a bit extra special because I lost it last year. I had an injury and a tough season, so it's a good little comeback story. I learned a lot from that too.”
After missing global gold once again, Benjamin commented dejectedly: “I am very satisfied with the first half of the race. I just cannot put the pieces together in the last half. I just did not have it. I just need to be better. I just do not know what happened today.”
But he ended his season on a high note as he won his first Diamond League title in Eugene, bettering Warholm’s Diamond League record as he recorded 46.39.
Women’s 400m hurdles
Season top list
| 51.45 | Femke Bol (NED) | London | 23 July |
| 52.80 | Shamier Little (USA) | Budapest | 24 August |
| 52.81 | Rushell Clayton (JAM) | Budapest | 24 August |
| 53.09 | Kemi Adekoya (BRN) | Budapest | 24 August |
| 53.23 | Britton Wilson (USA) | Gainesville | 14 April |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Femke Bol (NED) | 1514 |
| 2 | Shamier Little (USA) | 1437 |
| 3 | Rushell Clayton (JAM) | 1422 |
| 4 | Janieve Russell (JAM) | 1382 |
| 5 | Anna Cockrell (USA) | 1359 |
World medallists
| 🥇 | Femke Bol (NED) | 51.70 |
| 🥈 | Shamier Little (USA) | 52.80 |
| 🥉 | Rushell Clayton (JAM) | 52.81 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Femke Bol (NED) 51.70
Wanda Diamond League: Femke Bol (NED) 51.98
Asian Championships: Robyn Lauren Brown (PHI) 57.70
South American Championships: Chayenne da Silva (BRA) 55.90
Pan-American Games: Gianna Woodruff (PAN) 56.44
Asian Games: Kemi Adekoya (BRN) 54.45
Season at a glance
Femke Bol secured a richly deserved first global title in Budapest, where her performance in the 400m hurdles – and her dramatically contrasting fortunes in the mixed and women’s 4x400 relays – constituted one of the enduring memories of the event.
Following the late decision by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the United States not to defend the world title she had won in the home setting of Oregon the previous summer, when she left her Dutch rival halfway down the finishing straight as she improved her world record to a staggering 50.68, Bol’s opportunity not so much beckoned as urged.
But fate determined that it would not be so simple. On the opening day’s mixed 4x400m, the 23-year-old Dutch phenomenon pitched forward to the track just a few metres from the finish line as she came under pressure from an inspired Alexis Holmes running the last leg for the United States.
Apparent victory turned to defeat in a moment – and Bol was aghast at her failure to bring home the baton for her team. What effect would this experience have on her individual quest?
Any doubts harboured were swiftly dispersed, however, as Bol produced the fastest heat time and won her semi-final.
And she did not disappoint in the final as she earned the reward for a year of intense preparations.
The Olympic bronze medallist had operated in spectacular fashion during the indoor season as she worked on her speed over 400m flat.
On 19 February she broke the longest standing athletics track record in the book as she clocked 49.26 to win the Dutch indoor title, eclipsing the mark of 49.59 set by Jarmila Kratochvilova in Milan on 7 March 1982.
Bol went on to dominate in the Wanda Diamond League, winning in Florence with a world lead of 52.43, in Oslo with another world lead of 52.30, and in Lausanne with a time of 52.76.
The high point of her summer before Budapest, however, occurred in front of a sell-out 50,000 crowd at the London Stadium on 23 July as she ran a European and Diamond League record of 51.45.
"I've been wanting to run a 51 ever since Tokyo," said the 23-year-old. "I had a feeling I could do it but I still can't believe I've done it."
With McLaughlin-Levrone concentrating on 400m flat running during 2023, Bol’s time stood as the fastest of the year, more than a second-and-a-half faster than that of her next fastest rival.
Bol’s time was also one hundredth of a second faster than McLaughlin-Levrone ran to win the Olympic title. It was only four hundredths of a second slower than the world record McLaughlin-Levrone set at last year’s US Trials in Oregon. But it was the best part of a second slower than the current world mark of 50.68 run by her rival at last year’s World Championships. Such is the measure of the challenge for this amiable Dutch athlete.
Bol still faced serious opposition in the Hungarian capital in the shape of McLaughlin-Levrone’s compatriot and predecessor as world and Olympic champion, 33-year-old Dalilah Muhammad.
Also likely to be in the mix was another US athlete, Shamier Little, a 52.39 performer at her best, and the Jamaican trio of Andrenette Wright, Janieve Russell and Rushell Clayton.
Bol’s task was simplified by the failure of Muhammad to reach the final – but Little, with the fastest semifinal time (52.81), was a force to be reckoned with.
Six days after her face-down fall, however, Bol took individual gold in splendid isolation. The look on her face as she finished in 51.70, more than a second clear, spoke partly of joy, mostly of relief.
Little, a 28-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky ran one hundredth of a second faster than in her semi-final to earn her a silver to add to the one she had won in Beijing eight years earlier, and her time put her second on the season’s world list.
Bronze went to Clayton, who clocked a personal best of 52.81 to replicate her achievement at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Bol rounded off her season in the Diamond League with victory in Brussels in 52.11 and in the Eugene Final in 51.98.
Men’s 3000m steeplechase
Season top list
| 7:52.11 | Lamecha Girma (ETH) | Paris | 9 June |
| 7:56.68 | Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) | Rabat | 28 May |
| 8:04.19 | Simon Kiprop Koech (KEN) | Monaco | 21 July |
| 8:05.15 | Getnet Wale (ETH) | Rabat | 28 May |
| 8:05.51 | Abraham Kibiwot (KEN) | Rabat | 28 May |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) | 1474 |
| 2 | Lamecha Girma (ETH) | 1434 |
| 3 | Simon Kiprop Koech (KEN) | 1408 |
| 4 | Abraham Kibiwot (KEN) | 1399 |
| 5 | Getnet Wale (ETH) | 1363 |
World medallists
| 🥇 | Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) | 8:03.53 |
| 🥈 | Lamecha Girma (ETH) | 8:05.44 |
| 🥉 | Abraham Kibiwot (KEN) | 8:11.98 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) 8:03.53
Wanda Diamond League: Simon Kiprop Koech (KEN) 8:06.26
Asian Championships: Ryoma Aoki (JPN) 8:34.91
South American Championships: Julian Molina (ARG) 8:36.47
Pan-American Games: Jean-Simon Desgagnes (CAN) 8:30.14
Asian Games: Avinash Mukund Sable (IND) 8:19.50
Season at a glance
Lamecha Girma, twice a world record-breaker in 2023, had to settle for a fourth global 3000m steeplechase silver medal as world and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali beat him in a familiar manner to win the world title in 8:03.53.
There was another monumental struggle between the two men over the final lap as Ethiopia's Girma – who set a world indoor 3000m record and then lowered the world steeplechase record that had stood since 2004 to 7:52.11 – strove to make his new status tell.
But as in the previous year’s World Championships in Oregon, and the Tokyo Olympic final, the 27-year-old Moroccan was able to find the killing final speed to frustrate Girma’s ultimate ambition.
At the finish line, which he crossed in 8:05.44, Girma’s face was drained of emotion as he accepted a flag that was placed dutifully over his shoulders without doing anything energetic with it. Four global silvers in a row is a proud record – but it didn’t seem to feel like it at that moment.
El Bakkali, meanwhile, prostrated himself in prayer before wandering, as if dazed, on the track before heading over to collect a flag and congratulations from his nearest and dearest, his face suddenly contorted with tears.
“After winning in Eugene last year I am really proud to bring home another gold,” El Bakkali said. “I had great preparations for these championships but today's field was very strong with athletes like Lamecha.
“I came ready and prepared and believed I could win. This medal gives me additional motivation for the Olympic Games in Paris. I want to win there too.”
In what was effectively a separate race, bronze went to Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, who managed, remarkably, to recover from a heavy fall over a barrier going into the final lap and outsprint his compatriot Leonard Kipkemboi Bett to finish third in 8:11.98, with the latter clocking 8:12.26.
Girma, who was beaten to the world title in 2019 by Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto, had hoped fervently to become the first Ethiopian to win this world title after his extraordinary performance at the Diamond League meeting in Paris, where he took just over a second and a half off the long-standing mark of 7:53.63 set in Brussels by Saif Saaeed Shaheen.
That eclipsed the world lead and personal best of 7:56.68 set 12 days earlier by El Bakkali in Rabat.
Girma had already worked to historic effect on his flat speed by breaking Daniel Komen’s 25-year-old world indoor record in the 3000m in Lievin, with a time of 7:23.81.
After his Paris race, it was back to training to sharpen himself for the supreme test. He did everything right. But after reaching the bell with just over a metre lead from his great rival, he could not lengthen that margin, and the further around the final lap, the more inevitable seemed the eventual result.
The moment Girma must have dreaded and expected came as they entered the final bend, as El Bakkali moved past on the outside and then opened up a growing lead down the finishing straight to cross the line 10 metres clear.
“That is my fourth global silver medal but I am satisfied by every single race against El Bakkali,” Girma said.
“The weather today was bit a hot, but the final was pretty good. I still aim to win gold at the World Championships or Olympic Games. Nothing has changed in my goals. Maybe, I became even more motivated for next year.”
At just 22, Girma had many years yet to pursue those twin ambitions.
The Wanda Diamond League Trophy went to Kiprop, who ran 8:06.26 in Eugene.
Women’s 3000m steeplechase
Season top list
| 8:50.66 | Winfred Yavi (BRN) | Eugene | 16 September |
| 8:51.67 | Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) | Eugene | 16 September |
| 8:57.35 | Jackline Chepkoech (KEN) | London | 23 July |
| 8:59.65 | Faith Cherotich (KEN) | Eugene | 16 September |
| 9:00.71 | Sembo Almayew (ETH) | Florence | 2 June |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Winfred Yavi (BRN) | 1486 |
| 2 | Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) | 1459 |
| 3 | Faith Cherotich (KEN) | 1418 |
| 4 | Jackline Chepkoech (KEN) | 1403 |
| 5 | Sembo Almayew (ETH) | 1399 |
World medallists
| 🥇 | Winfred Yavi (BRN) | 8:54.29 |
| 🥈 | Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) | 8:58.98 |
| 🥉 | Faith Cherotich (KEN) | 9:00.69 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Winfred Yavi (BRN) 8:54.29
Wanda Diamond League: Winfred Yavi (BRN) 8:50.66
Asian Championships: Parul Chaudhary (IND) 9:38.76
South American Championships: Tatiane Raquel da Silva (BRA) 9:55.73
Pan-American Games: Belen Casetta (ARG) 9:39.47
Asian Games: Winfred Yavi (BRN) 9:18.28
Season at a glance
Winfred Yavi enjoyed an annus mirabilis at the age of 23 as she won the world title, the Wanda Diamond League Trophy and the Asian Games gold.
But Yavi faced two formidable Kenyan talents in the course of the season in the non-related form of Beatrice and Jackline Chepkoech.
The latter, 19, had won the Commonwealth title in Birmingham the summer before and, less than a month before the World Championships in Budapest, had broken the nine-minute barrier for the first time in winning at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London in a world lead of 8:57.35.
Beatrice, who had won the 2019 world title a year after lowering the world record to 8:44.32 in Monaco, finished almost seven seconds behind her.
But while the younger Chepkoech may have arrived in Budapest as the slight favourite, she was unable to make her talent tell in the final, finishing ninth in 9:14.72.
The elder Chepkoech, 13 years her senior, lived up to her billing, however, setting an early pace that only Yavi could handle.
Fourth in the previous two World Championships finals, Yavi was not going to miss her chance to finally make it on to the podium as a winner. She steadily closed the gap, then overtook Beatrice at the bell and forged ahead.
She crossed the finish line in 8:54.29, not just eclipsing the younger Chepkoech’s world lead but moving to fourth on the world all-time list.
The elder Chepkoech took silver in 8:58.98 for silver and another 19-year-old Kenyan, world U20 champion Faith Cherotich, claimed bronze in 9:00.69 – a first podium finish in the event by a teenager.
“This silver feels like gold to me,” said Chepkoech, who had finished seventh at the Tokyo Olympics and then missed the following year’s World Championships. “The last few years have been tough due to injury. Coming back is something special for me.
“It has been hard. Since the Tokyo Olympics I have been struggling and I thought I might never come back but tonight proves I am still strong.”
Yavi maintained her dominance, winning the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Zurich and then finishing her season in spectacular fashion to earn her first Diamond League Trophy in Eugene with an Asian record and world lead of 8:50.66.
She was pursued to the line by Beatrice Chepkoech, who finished in 8:51.67 – the second-fastest time during the year.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
