A – Ashton Eaton emerged as a major player in the decathlon

B – Bershawn Jackson, back to form and dominant in the 400 hurdles

C – Chris, as in Chris Solinsky and Christian Cantwell both looking good heading into 2011

D – David, as in Rudisha and Oliver, the two most dominating athletes in 2010

E – European Championships, the biggest event of the year

F – Florida Relays site of Tyson Gay’s 44.89 making him the first man ever to run under 10.00, 20.00 and 45.00

G – Gay (Tyson) the world’s #1 sprinter in 2010

H – Howard-Lowe (Chaunte) new AR holder in the high jump

I – Injuries, Kenenisa Bekele, almost every Jamaican sprinter, half of the US sprinters, nearly every top global high hurdler

J – Jeremy Wariner returned to dominating form

K – Kara Patterson set an AR in the javelin and new standards of consistency while becoming a major global player

L – Lemaitre (Christophe) became the first “white” sprinter to break through the 10.00 barrier

M – Middle distance surge in the US on the feet of Andrew Wheating, Leonel Manzano, Morgan Uceny, Phoebe Wright, and Alysia Johnson

N – NCAA Championships, the most exciting event of the year

O – Ostapchuck (Nadzeya), the most dominating, and overlooked, female athlete on the planet this year

P – Penn Relays, once again the biggest event on US soil

Q – Qatar, the first stop on the new Diamond League

R – Rio de Janerio won the bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games – the first to be held in South America

S – Stockholm, the site of the year’s only major sprint showdown and the race heard round the world

T – Teddy Tamgho, took the triple back over 59 feet

U – Usain Bolt, if there were gold medals for partying he says he would have them all, lead the clock over 200 meters

V – Veronica Campbell Brown leads the world in both the 100 & 200

W = Wallace Spearmon returns to form after down years with injury

X – Xiang Liu, still injured, a sign of the times for the elite

Y – Yargelis Savigne, still a force in the triple jump

Z – Zurich once again a highlight of the European Circuit