'What else was I supposed to do?' - Melissa Jefferson-Wooden breaks silence on Athlete of the Year Snub

After being snubbed as one of the finalists for Athlete of the Year award, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has broken her silence, calling the deecision a 'slap in the face' to all her achievements this year.

The American sprint queen who had near-perfect dominance this season, including a historic triple-gold performance at the World Championships in Tokyo, she wasn't considered as deserving for the World Athletics Athlete of the Year award.

Jefferson-Wooden delivered one of the most commanding seasons in recent memory. After an early loss to Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas at the Grand Slam Track in Kingston, she went on undefeated, going on to win 20 of her 22 races.

Her crowning achievement came in Tokyo, where she secured gold in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. This remarkable feat made her only the second woman, after the Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and the first American woman in history, to sweep all three events at a single world championship.

Despite these historic accomplishments, World Athletics did not name her a finalist for its prestigious award, instead listed Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol.

Speaking to Track and Field Network on the situation, Jefferson-Wooden expressed her initial frustration.

"Okay, let’s see. Part of me was mad," she admitted, describing the omission as "a slap in the face to all the work that I put in this year to be able to do what I went out there and did."

"What Else Was I Supposed to Do? Yeah, well, that was the other thing I said. I was like, what else was I supposed to do? I don’t know," she reflected, questioning what more it would take to earn her deserving recognition.

The sprinter acknowledged that feeling overlooked is not a new experience for her. "I’ve been getting overlooked in my career for so long now," she said. "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."

Jefferson-Wooden's statistics underscore her case, as she holds more than half of the year's top 10 fastest times in her events. However, she is channeling the disappointment into motivation for the future, with her sights now set on the upcoming 2026 season.

"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," she concluded.