Dear Santa (who is real, and has subscribed to the Lap Count since 2022 with a 74% open rate!),

As far as weekly newsletters go, we feel we’ve been good this year. We delivered timely, relevant, and occasionally funny content to a readership that mostly seems to, well, tolerate us (and didn’t unsubscribe en masse when the TLC average mile time got a lot slower).

And as such, though very late in our request, we feel it’s totally reasonable to ask for the following things for Christmas – or for 2025, if you’re running a bit behind schedule. We know the elves are tired and the reindeer are ready to hit the showers. But these requests can’t be built in a toy shop anyways, and you might need to bribe some agents with milk and cookies.

What we want is something ephemeral and priceless. Something so conceptual you wouldn’t know how to shove it down a chimney if your life depended on it. What we want are some killer matchups during the 2025 track and field campaign.

Keely Hodgkinson vs. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone over 600m. It’s been a while – at least since summer 2023 – since Sydney was truly pushed to the finish line in a race. It’s clear no one can do it in the 400m hurdles. With the growing number of sub-49 runners, it’s possible she’d meet her match over 400 meters, but if she focuses more on the flat event, it’d be hard to bet against her. But SML versus the Olympic 800m champion over 600m? Now that would be intriguing and could ignite the kind of fire under the world record holder that can only be lit by getting beat.

Fred Kerley vs. Noah Lyles over 400m. Noah Lyles hasn’t been shy about his desire to double up on Team USA relay spots… but before he knocks a 400m guy off the roster, he’s gotta prove he’s the best short sprinter for the job! And given that Kerley began his career in the 400m (and has an NCAA title, Diamond League trophy, and World bronze in the event), he’s the obvious choice.

Josh Kerr vs. Jakob Ingebrigtsen over 3000m. Somehow, this has never happened. The indoor world record holder over 2 miles and the 3000m/2 mile world record holder outdoors, who also may or may not hate each other, should race head-to-head over 3,000 meters. May we suggest World Indoors 2025 as a good venue?

Tara Davis-Woodhall vs. Katie Moon over 100m. Katie Moon talked about the potential of a pole vaulter head-to-head 100-meter race in an interview with CITIUS MAG this week, but wouldn’t it be even more fun to have two different Olympic champions on the runway take to the homestretch and see who comes out on top?

Gainesville All-Stars vs. Team USA over 4x100m. If there’s one thing Team USA can never seem to get right, it’s the 4x100m relay. And Paris was no exception. Team chemistry matters in the 4x100m, and the Florida-based training group that includes Grant Holloway, Pjai Austin, Erriyon Knighton, and Joe Fahnbulleh has the X factor. The quartet dropped a 37.67 at Florida Relays in March, which held up for the 7th-fastest performance of the year all through the championship season. If Fahnbulleh didn’t represent Liberia, we really should just give them the job – but beating an all-star U.S. team would be a fun consolation prize.

Arkansas All-Stars vs. Team USA over 4x400m. Similarly, it’s hard to argue that the greatest long-sprints program in the country couldn’t deliver a gold medal if international teams were allowed at the Olympics. The 2024 version of Americans Rosey Effiong, Kaylyn Brown, Brit Amber Anning, and Jamaican Nickisha Pryce could probably hang onto a Sydney-anchored Team USA, given that they ran 3:17.96 all alone at NCAAs, but throw a fully healthy Britton Wilson into the mix and it would be very, very close.

We know we’re being a little bit greedy here. We’ve already been promised Cole Hocker versus Grant Fisher in the 2 mile at Millrose. And with Grand Slam Track’s offerings starting up in the spring, we’re going to get some really great, head-to-head-to-head races all season long. But hey. A newsletter can dream, right?

For more of the top stories and analysis from the biggest stories in track and field from the past week, subscribe to The Lap Count newsletter for free. New edition every Wednesday morning at 6:00 a.m. ET.