2006 Performance of the Year

Posted by Gabriel Rodriguez Oct 27, 2006

On November 12th in Monaco, the world will learn of the 2006 Athletes of the Year and Performances of the Year.

My selection for the male 2006 Performance of the Year would be China's Liu Xiang's 12.88 World Record in the 110 Meter Hurdles. An absolutely brilliant run on July 7, 2006, in Lausanne, Switzerland, solidified legendary status for the cult-like hero, Xiang, and confirmed him as the favorite for the 2007 IAAF World Championships to be held in Osaka, Japan.

The women's 2006 Performance of the Year, in my estimation, should go to Russia's Tatyana Lysenko and her determined performances to gain back her World Record in the Hammer Throw. On June 12th in Tuna, compatriot Gulfiya Khanafeyeva robbed Lysenko's existing World Record (77.06 meters set in 2005) with a stunning 77.26 throw. However, two weeks later in Zhukovskiy, Lysenko snatched back the record with a 77.41 heave of her own. But Lysenko was not done in 2006, for on August in Tallinn, Lysenko unleashed a monstrous World Record 77.80 meter throw to confirm her dominance over the Hammer Throw event.