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Lead Stories: Sunday, November 23, 2008

Industry and Events News Wrap-Up

Posted November 19th, 2008 at 12:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Road Racing

CLAY, BROWN TRAFTON WIN 2008 JESSE OWENS AWARDS:
Olympic gold medalists Bryan Clay (decathlon) and Stephanie Brown Trafton (discus) on Tuesday were named winners of the 2008 Jesse Owens Award by USA Track & Field. Established in 1981, the Jesse Owens Award is USA Track & Field’s highest accolade, presented annually to the outstanding U.S. male and female track and field performers. Clay was the favorite to win Olympic gold, while Brown Trafton’s medal was one of the biggest surprises in Beijing. “All of us at USA Track & Field take great pride in saluting Bryan and Stephanie for their accomplishments during the 2008 season,” said USATF CEO Doug Logan.

IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS GALA TO BE STREAMED
LIVE ON IAAF.ORG:
For the first time in the history of the annual World Athletics Gala, the show will be shown via a video stream on the IAAF website, as well as the live worldwide TV broadcast. The event, which includes the announcements of the Male and the Female World Athlete of the Year 2008, will be hosted on Sunday 23 November at the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté, Monte-Carlo by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF & IAAF President Lamine Diack. More details available at IAAF.org.
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Felix and Gay finalists for 2007 Athlete of the Year

Posted December 5th, 2007 at 6:00 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

2007 Jesse Owens Award winners Allyson Felix and Tyson Gay are finalists for the 2007 United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Last year, the ballot attracted nearly half a million votes from around the globe.

Votes will be collected online from November 30- December 24. The ballot will be located on a website hosted by the Academy, which is currently available through a direct link from the USA Track & Field website at www.usatf.org.

At just 21 years old, Felix became the second woman in history to win three gold medals at a single World Outdoor Championships with her triumphs in Osaka, Japan. She first won the 200m in a personal-best 21.81 seconds. It was the fastest time by a woman since 1999 and was the largest margin of victory in World Outdoor history (.53).
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T&F News honors Liu, Defar, Wariner and Richards

Posted December 27th, 2006 at 3:47 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Track & Field

Track and Field News released their choices for 2006’s best performances and athletes. For the second time in three years, Chinese hurdler Xiang Liu was was deemed to have produced the campaign’s top men’s performance.

The women’s top performance was given to Ethiopian distance expert Meseret Defar. Defar set the world record for the 5k at the New York Reebok meet this past. Her time was an astounding 14:24.53.

Jeremy Wariner, the top-rated male 400m runner, was chosen as the male World Athlete of the Year. Wariner received a nearly perfect score (99.6%) and only one member of the 23-member voter panel didn’t choose Wariner as number one. Tyson Gay was the runner-up. Stand-out Xavier “X-Man” Carter came in fifth; although we believe he should have been ranked higher.
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Richards; Wariner receive 2006 Jesse Owens Award

Posted December 6th, 2006 at 2:15 PM by Jennifer Lipman

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Sanya Richards and Jeremy Wariner were chosen to receive the coveted Jesse Owens Award for 2006. These two outstanding athletes had an incredible year; going undefeated in the 400 meters.

The Jesse Owens Award was started in 1981 and is awarded annually to the most outstanding male and female track & field performers of the year. The winners are chosen through ballot voting by members of the U.S. Track & Field media.

Sanya Richards, only 21 years old, had a year that most can only dream of. Not only did she go undefeated in the 400 meter, but she was also named female World Athlete of the Year. In addition, Richards shattered the 22 year-old 400m world record of 48.83 seconds (previously held by Valerie Brisco) at the IAAF World Cup in Athens, on September 16 with a time of 48.70

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