Wikiwand AI

Night of Legends awards

Awards given out by USA Track and Field From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Night of Legends is an annual track and field awards ceremony that announces the highest accolades given out by USA Track & Field (USATF), namely the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Award and the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year Award. Before 2013, both the men's and women's awards were called the Jesse Owens Award.[1] Since 2018, the ceremony is called the Night of Legends; before then, the awards were given out at USATF's annual meeting.[2]

As the country's highest award for the sport, it was named after Jesse Owens in recognition of his significant career, which included four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] As of 2013, the female athlete of the year award was renamed the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award.[7]

List of recipients

Joan Benoit received the award in 1984 after winning the first Olympic marathon for women.[8]
Michael Johnson won the award three years running.
Allyson Felix received the award in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2015.
More information Year, Male winner ...
Year Male winner Female winner Ref.
1981 Edwin Moses — [9]
1982 Carl Lewis — [10]
1983 — Mary Decker [11]
1984 — Joan Benoit [12]
1985 Willie Banks — [13]
1986 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee [14]
1987 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee [14]
1988 — Florence Griffith Joyner [15]
1989 Roger Kingdom — [16]
1990 — Lynn Jennings [17]
1991 Carl Lewis — [10]
1992 Kevin Young — [18]
1993 — Gail Devers [19]
1994 Michael Johnson — [20]
1995 Michael Johnson — [20]
1996 Michael Johnson Gail Devers [20]
1997 Allen Johnson Marion Jones [21]
1998 John Godina Marion Jones [22]
1999 Maurice Greene Inger Miller [23]
2000 Angelo Taylor Stacy Dragila [24]
2001 John Godina Stacy Dragila [25]
2002 Tim Montgomery Marion Jones [26]
2003 Tom Pappas Deena Kastor [27]
2004 Justin Gatlin Joanna Hayes [28]
2005 Justin Gatlin Allyson Felix [29]
2006 Jeremy Wariner Sanya Richards [30]
2007 Tyson Gay Allyson Felix [31]
2008 Bryan Clay Stephanie Brown Trafton [32]
2009 Tyson Gay Sanya Richards [5]
2010 David Oliver Allyson Felix [6]
2011 Jesse Williams Carmelita Jeter [33]
2012 Ashton Eaton Allyson Felix [34]
Year Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year Ref.
2013 LaShawn Merritt Brianna Rollins [35]
2014 Mebrahtom Keflezighi Jennifer Simpson [36]
2015 Ashton Eaton Allyson Felix [37]
2016 Matthew Centrowitz Michelle Carter [38]
2017 Sam Kendricks Emma Coburn [39]
2018 Noah Lyles Shelby Houlihan [40]
2019 Donavan Brazier Dalilah Muhammad [41]
2021 Ryan Crouser Sydney McLaughlin [42]
2022 Noah Lyles Sydney McLaughlin [43]
2023 Noah Lyles Sha'Carri Richardson [44]
2024 Grant Holloway Gabrielle Thomas [45]
2025 Rai Benjamin Melissa Jefferson-Wooden [46]
Close

References

External links

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks