Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Noah Lyles each won their second USA Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who broke the 400m hurdles world record twice in 2022 (as she did in 2021), won the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who is coached by Joyner-Kersee’s husband, became the first athlete to win in back-to-back years since sprinter Justin Gatlin in 2004 and 2005. The last woman to win in back-to-back years was marathoner Deena Kastor in 2002 and 2003. Marion Jones originally won in 2002 but had it stripped for doping.
Lyles, who broke Michael Johnson‘s American 200m record en route to the world title, won the Jesse Owens Award for the second time after doing so in 2018. He is the first man to win the award twice since decathlete Ashton Eaton in 2012 and 2015.
McLaughlin-Levrone and Lyles are finalists for World Athletics Female and Male Athlete of the Year awards along with four non-Americans in each category. Those winners will be announced in early December.
The last Americans to win World Athletics Athlete of the Year were Dalilah Muhammad (2019) and Eaton (2015).
The other Americans who were among the 10 women’s and 10 men’s nominees for World Athletics Athlete of the Year were world champions Chase Ealey (shot put) and Grant Holloway (110m hurdles).
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