A full breakdown and reflection on Emmanuel Wanyonyi beating Noah Lyles to win the 2025 World Athletics Male Track Athlete of the Year — what made his season unique, and why the decision made sense.

 What happened: Wanyonyi wins  and Lyles loses

• At the 2025 World Athletics Awards in Monaco, Emmanuel Wanyonyi was crowned Male Track Athlete of the Year. (The Standard)

• His main rival in the category was Noah Lyles, the American sprint star, but Wanyonyi “edged him out” according to multiple reports. (The Star)

• Wanyonyi’s crowning was part of a wider Kenyan success: alongside him, fellow Kenyans took other top awards (e.g. in out-of-stadium and rising star). (The Standard)

This awarding makes Wanyonyi only the third Kenyan man  after legends such as David Rudisha and Eliud Kipchoge  to claim this honour since its inception in 1988. (The Standard)

 Why Wanyonyi’s 2025 season stood out

A few key achievements helped Wanyonyi rise above:

• World Champion & Championship Record  At the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, he won the 800 m in a championship-record 1:41.86. (The Star)

• Dominant Diamond League Season  He claimed multiple Diamond League wins (Oslo, Stockholm, Monaco, London), and capped the season by winning the Zürich Diamond League Final. (The Times)

• World-leading Time  His 1:41.44 in Monaco stood as the world-leading 800 m time for 2025. (Diamond League)

• Consistency  Across the year, Wanyonyi delivered four of the six fastest 800 m runs of the year a mark of dominance, not just a single fluke performance. (The Standard)

Taken together, that amounts to a full-blown “season of supremacy” at 800 m  convincingly world-leading, globally champion, and consistently top on the circuit.

 Lyles’ season: great but not enough

Noah Lyles was a finalist for a reason: he remains one of the fastest sprinters in the world. His 2025 season included:

• A win in the 200 m at the Monaco Diamond League (19.88s) after returning from injury. (People Daily)

• At the World Championships, he collected a medal in the 100 m (bronze, 9.89s) and reinforced his speed credentials. (People Daily)

• He remains a phenomenal athlete with elite sprinting credentials  many applauded him as worthy of contention.

But, compared with Wanyonyi’s dominance over a discipline for an entire year (800 m), Lyles’ accomplishments  though impressive were deemed slightly less compelling by the voting panel for the “male track” award.

Why the decision “makes sense”

Given how the awards are structured  taking into account global titles, circuit performance across the season, consistency, and overall impact — Wanyonyi’s 2025 fits nearly all the boxes:

• He not only won the world title, but did so with a championship record.

• He dominated the 800 m on the Diamond League circuit, and posted the world-leading time for the year.

• He was consistent: multiple wins, multiple top-six fastest times of the season.

On the other hand, while Lyles had elite sprinting results, he didn’t quite string together the kind of dominance in multiple major competitions over the year that Wanyonyi did in his discipline.

In short: Wanyonyi’s season was elite and sustained  the kind of campaign that “Male Track Athlete of the Year” is designed to honour.

 Why it matters  beyond personal glory

• For Kenya / Africa: Wanyonyi’s win keeps the “Male Track Athlete” crown on African soil, following last year’s best-of-track going to a Botswanan athlete. (The Standard)

• For 800 m racing: It emphasises that middle-distance not only sprints  remains vital and competitive at the highest global level; Wanyonyi has now positioned himself as the face of modern 800 m.

• For Wanyonyi’s legacy: At just 20/21, with such accolades, he joins the company of legends (like Rudisha and Kipchoge), setting the stage for what could be a long and storied career. (The Standard)