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Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lead nominations for USATF Athlete of the Year awards
Gabby Thomas, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and Noah Lyles headline the nominations for the USATF Athlete of the Year awards for the 2024 season. All three athletes displayed their brilliance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which was held from July 27 to August 11.
Thomas was the most successful track athlete for the United States in terms of achievements, winning three gold medals. She first bagged a gold in the individual 200m, running a sensational 21.83s, ahead of the 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred (22.08s) and Brittany Brown (22.20s).
After this, she contributed to the women’s 4x100m relay team's victory by running the third leg, helping the USA team secure a winning time of 41.78s. She concluded her campaign with another gold medal as a member of the 4x400m relay team, which earned the top position with a combined effort of 3:15.27.
Meanwhile, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was one of the most dominant athletes at the quadrennial Games. In her signature 400m hurdles event, the 25-year-old claimed the gold medal with a convincing victory, shattering her own world record with a time of 50.37s. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone finished well ahead of her competitors, with Anna Cockrell, her compatriot, taking second place with a time of 51.87 seconds.
She continued her remarkable show in the finals of the women’s 4x400m relay by clocking the fastest split among all 400m runners (47.71s), contributing significantly to the winning team’s American record, which also included Thomas, Shamier Little, and Alexis Holmes.
Meanwhile, Noah Lyles claimed gold in one of the most anticipated track and field events, i.e. the men's 100m, after narrowly edging out Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in a nail-biting contest. Both Lyles and Thompson recorded the same times, but the American sprinter's torso touched the finish line just ahead of Thompson.
Lyles then won a successive bronze medal at the Olympics in the 200m, despite testing positive for COVID-19. Because of this, he didn’t feature in the men’s 4x100m relay race.
Who are the nominees for the award besides Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas & Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone?
For the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, Rai Benjamin, Ryan Crouser, Quincy Hall, and Grant Holloway are the nominations, apart from Lyles. While Benjamin bagged two golds in the 400m hurdles and was a member of the 4x400m relay event, Crouser, Hall, and Holloway achieved the topmost podium position in the shot put, 400m and 110m hurdles, respectively.
In addition to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Masai Russell, and Valarie Allman have been nominated for the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year award for their achievements in long jump, 100m hurdles, and discus throw, respectively, in 2024.
In the 2023 season, Sha'Carri Richardson and Lyles were honored with the Female and Male Athlete of the Year awards by the USATF for their accomplishments at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
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