Jesse Owens Award

This article is about the annual American track and field award. For Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Year, see Big Ten Athlete of the Year. For the annual international sports award, see Jesse Owens International Trophy.

The Jesse Owens Award is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given out by USA Track & Field (USATF).[1] As the country's highest award for the sport, it bears Jesse Owens's name in recognition of his significant career, which included four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.[2] First awarded in 1981 to hurdler Edwin Moses, it was created to recognize the season's top American performer in track and field competitions. In 1996, the award was divided into two categories, with both a male and female winner. The 1996 winners, Michael Johnson and Gail Devers, each won two gold medals at that year's Olympics in Atlanta.[3] Until 2008 the award was voted on by members of the United States athletics media only, but in 2009 fans were able to vote via the USATF website, with their opinions contributing 10% of the overall result.[4]

The winners of the award are typically announced in late November or early December after the end of the outdoor track and field season. A number of athletes have received the award on more than one occasion: Jackie Joyner-Kersee was the first to do so with back-to-back wins in 1986 and 1987, while Carl Lewis won his second award in 1991. Michael Johnson was the first to receive the award three times (winning consecutively from 1994 to 1996) and Marion Jones became the first woman to collect three awards after wins in 1997, 1998 and 2002. In 2012, Allyson Felix won the award for the fourth time, thus distinguishing herself as the athlete with the most wins. Winners receive a replica of the award while the original remains on permanent display at the USATF Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana.[5] As of 2013, the female version of the award was renamed the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year Award.[6]

  1. ^ "Jesse Owens Award". USA Track and Field. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  2. ^ "Gay, Richards win 2009 Jesse Owens Awards". USA Track and Field. November 19, 2009. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  3. ^ "Gay, Richards selected USA Athletes of the Year". International Association of Athletics Federations. November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference smh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2010award was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Jesse Owens Award". USA Track & Field. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.