Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Nicola Olyslager, Mondo Duplantis, Tara Davis-Woodhall were the names that made the final list for the 2025 World Athlete of the Year awards. But Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, though in plain sight, missed making the list. And she became the first American woman ever to win the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m relay golds at the same World Championships in Tokyo this year. However, the USATF could not ignore Jefferson-Wooden. Hence, they took it upon themselves to bridge that gap.

She didn’t stack wins only at Tokyo, where she became the second-fastest American woman of all time in the 100m dash, clocking in a time of 10.61s. Additionally, she ran a world lead of 21.68s in the 200m race at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. On top of that, Jefferson-Wooden was undefeated in the 2025 season in the 100m discipline in 20 out of 22 performances. She recorded three sub-10.7s performances, and the USATF had to honor her.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden truly welcomed the recognition from USATF – naming Jefferson-Wooden to the 2025 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year award – feeling that it finally acknowledged her hard work. Alongside her, Rai Benjamin was awarded the 2025 Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year.

“I am so happy to be this year’s recipient of the Jackie Joyner Kersey Award. It means so much to me with the year that I’ve had. And it’s just a testament to all the hard work that I put in this year. And to know that it didn’t go unnoticed means the world to me.”

So why did the World Athletics org overlook her? They didn’t. She made the nominees list, and rightfully so. This year’s World Athletics voting leaned heavily toward finalists who participated more extensively in the Diamond League, especially the Diamond League final. The finalists, Femke Bol and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, didn’t just dominate at the Worlds in their discipline; they did so in the Diamond League. 

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, meanwhile, centered her season around major championships. This included Worlds and national titles instead of the full Diamond League circuit. Hence, she didn’t proceed as a finalist for the World Female Athlete of the Year award. For a woman made to break records, being excluded did not feel good.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden gets candid about the 2025 World Athletics award

Backed with a season defined by historic times and major championship dominance, losing the World Athletics award felt like “a slap in the face” for her. The World Female Athlete of the Year was a recognition of a year where Jefferson-Wooden genuinely pushed the ceiling of American sprinting. Hence, she was appalled and felt like her contributions to the sport were overlooked.

“Yeah, well, that was the other thing I said. I was like, what else was I supposed to do? I don’t know.”

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However, she didn’t let the bitterness linger for long. 

“I’ve been getting overlooked in my career for so long now. I don’t want to say that I’m used to it, but in a sense, it’s just kind of like, okay, cool, fine, whatever. I guess I’ll try harder next time.”

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden turned the snub into fuel. For the Olympic sprinter, the biggest takeaway from the season had nothing to do with awards and everything to do with the journey to that point. It reminded her that external validation, or the lack of it, can’t slow the internal momentum she’s built.

“The biggest lesson I got from this year is learning that if you lock in and dial in on things you say you want to achieve but also put the hard work in on top of that, the sky is the limit.”

Nevertheless, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s season proved that medals, history, and self-belief matter far more than any missed nomination. Her response to adversity only strengthened her legacy, and with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee award in hand, she now moves forward with even greater momentum for the seasons ahead.