Let's start the season 2019 with the usual choices of the best athlete of the month.
This year Marcia dal Mondo has proceeded by setting the following posts that will be taken as nominations among which we will choose the athlete of the month:
- Men's and women's competitions will be taken into consideration on Olympic distances (20km and 50km), and/or those on 30km and 35km and also those on the 10,000m track
- the IAAF tables updated to 2017 will be used
- in the case of the 35km women whose race is not currently included in the IAAF tables, we will use, if in possession, the split time to the 30km that are instead present in the table. In case of lack of split time to 30km, no results will be taken into consideration.
Men category
In this case we have considered the following performances
| Date | Event | Venue | Distance | Athlete | Result |
| | | | | | |
| 1.1.2019 | 67° New Year Race Walk Meeting | Tokyo | 20km | SUGANAMI Yuya | 1:23:22 |
| 1.1.2019 | 67° New Year Race Walk Meeting | Tokyo | 20km | MURAYAMA Yutaro | 1:23:22 |
| 9.1.2019 | Supernova 4 Project | Canberra | 10.000m track | KARLSTROM Perseus | 38:52.76 |
| 13.1.2019 | Portuguese 50km Championships | Porto Mos | 50km | VIEIRA Joao | 3:51:46 |
| 27.1.2019 | Italian 50km Championships | G.Marea | 35km | STANO Massimo | 2:35:03 |
| 27.1.2019 | Italian 50km Championships | G.Marea | 35km | TONTODONATI Federico | 2:36:14 |
| 27.1.2019 | Italian 50km Championships | G.Marea | 35km | AGRUSTI Andrea | 2:37:39 |
Using the above system we have determined the best performance in January.
| Pos. | Athlete | Result | Score points |
| | | | |
| 1. | KARLSTROM Perseus | 38:52.76 | 1.178 |
| 2. | VIEIRA Joao | 3:51:46 | 1.152 |
| 3. | STANO Massimo | 2:35:03 | 1.144 |
| 4. | TONTODONATI Federico | 2:36:14 | 1.133 |
| 5. | SUGANAMI Yuya | 1:23:22 | 1.119 |
| 5. | MURAYAMA Yutaro | 1:23:22 | 1.119 |
| 5. | AGRUSTI Andrea | 2:37:39 | 1.119 |
The gap between one performance and the other between the first two athletes, as our readers will be able to see, is only 26 points; this means in terms of time, if Perseus Karlstrom would have obtained a time of 38" slower in Camberra race and Joao Vieira woulf be victorious in Porto de Mos with points 1.152.
Joao Vieira would have needed in the 50km of Porto de Mos by a time less than 4:27 to get the victory over Karlstrom.
Women category
In this case we have considered the following performances
| Date | Event | Venue | Distance | Athlete | Result |
| | | | | | |
| 1.1.2019 | The 1st race | Hong Kong | 20km | LIU Hong | 1:30:43 |
| 26.1.2019 | USA 50km Championships | Santee, CA | 50km | TALLENT Claire | 4:12:44 |
| 27.1.2019 | Italian 50km Championships | G. Marea | 30 of 35km | GIORGI Eleonora Anna | 2:22:20 |
| 28.1.2019 | AIS Athletics Track | Canberra | 10.000m track | ARENAS Sandra Lorena | 43:41.51 |
In terms of scoring the results are as follows:
| Pos. | Athlete | Result | Score points |
| | | | |
| 1. | TALLENT Claire | 4:12:44 | 1.204 |
| 2. | GIORGI Eleonora Anna | 2:22:20 | 1.166 |
| 3. | ARENAS Sandra Lorena | 43:41.51 | 1.133 |
| 4. | LIU Hong | 1:30:43 | 1.131 |
The gap between one performance and the other between the first two athletes, as our readers will be able to see, is only 38 points; this means in terms of time, if Claire Tallent would have obtained a time of 6:47 slower (4:19:31) in the race of Santee, CA and Eleonora Anna Giorgi would be victorious in Gioiosa Marea with points 1.166.
Eleonora Anna Giorgi instead would have needed in the passage to the 30km of the 350km of Gioiosa Marea a time of -3:31 (2:18:49) to obtain the victory on Claire Tallent.
However, we would like to point out that from the comparison of the part numbers of the two athletes up to 35km the following appears:
| Distance | Split Tallent | Split Giorgi | Difference |
| | | | |
| 10km | 48:47 | 47:50 | -0:57 Giorgi |
| 20km | 1:38:22 | 1:35:17 | -3:05 Giorgi |
| 30km | 2:29:35 | 2:22:20 | -7:15 Giorgi |
| 35km | 2:54:58 | 2:45:21 | -9:37 Giorgi |
| 50km | 4:12:44 | - | |
As our readers will notice in all split times from 10km to 35km (including the one on which the score of the Giorgi was calculated: 30km) the advantage of the Italian on Australia is always increasing.
At tie of score (on 30km), the score as per IAAF table for Claire Tallent should have been 1.090 points.
As we have repeatedly pointed out last year, the tables of 50km women seem overly rewarding.
If we assume a score of 1.300 points we will see that it corresponds to the following performances:
- on 50km: 3:56:38
- on 30km: 2:10:18
- on 20km: 1:21:02
- on 10km: 39:11
In our opinion the highest probability is that of obtaining a result on the 50km similar what would bring that score, while getting a time of 1:21:02 on 20km we see it much more difficult to obtain.
Having said all this, however, we confirm that our athlete of the month is Claire Tallent (AUS).