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October 08, 2020
Hall, FloJo earn Athlete of the Week honors
INDIANAPOLIS -- London Marathon runner-up
Sara Hall
(Flagstaff, Arizona) set a lifetime best to earn USATF Athlete of the Week, while
Florence Griffith Joyner
was selected by fans as the winner of the 28th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting a world record in the women’s 200m on Sept. 29, 1988. In the absence of regular competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking a weekly look back at some of the great efforts by American track and field athletes through the years.
Hall turned on the jets over the final 200m to pass 2019 World Champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya and finish second in 2:22:01, clipping 15 seconds off her PR on a cold and rainy day. The 37-year-old Hall was already No. 6 on the U.S. all-time performer list, and her London time was the eighth-fastest performance ever by an American woman. It was also the fastest time ever run by an American in a women-only race, chopping more than a minute off Emily Sisson’s 2:23:08 from London last year.
Griffith Joyner, best known to the world as Flo-Jo and famed for her flamboyant outfits on the track, had already run seven races at Seoul before lining up for the final of the 200m, including a world record 21.56 in the semifinal. Showing the same imperious form that carried her to a remarkable 10.49 world record in the 100m at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Flo-Jo destroyed the field and crossed the line in 21.34, taking .22 off her own WR and beating silver medalist Grace Jackson of Jamaica by .38.
Adding a gold in the 4x100m relay and a silver in the 4x400m, Flo-Jo left Seoul with three golds, a silver and two world records, and her name etched forever in the annals of Olympic history. She also helped the U.S. to gold in the 4x100m at the 1987 World Championships and took silver in the 200m at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and at the ‘87 Worlds. In her career, Flo-Jo earned seven medals at major international championships and set three world records, along with an American record in the 4x400m at Seoul.
After retiring from the sport in 1989, Flo-Jo dabbled in art, fashion design and acting and was co-chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness. A 1995 inductee into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, she and her husband, Olympic triple jump gold medalist Al Joyner, had one daughter. Flo-Jo tragically passed away in 1998, and the elementary school she had attended in Los Angeles was named in her honor.
Other historical performances of note from the September 28-October 4 period in USATF history:
September 28 — Stephen Chase =American record in men’s 120y hurdles, 15 2/5 at New York City in 1895
September 29 — Florence Griffith Joyner World record in women’s 200m, 21.34 at Seoul, South Korea in 1988
September 30 — Steve Seymour American record in men’s javelin, 71.70m/235-2 at Istanbul, Turkey in 1945
October 1 — Richard Hart American record in men’s 6 Miles, 29:33.6 at Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1955
October 2 — John Flanagan American record in men’s discus, 37.80m/124-0 at St. Louis, Missouri in 1901
October 3 — Marsha Nyquist American record in women’s javelin, 32.55m/106-9 at Newark, New Jersey in 1925
October 4 — Helen Stephens =American record in women’s 100y, 10.8 at Fulton, Missouri in 1935
Other notable performances from the past week included:
Jordan Gray recorded the second-highest American women’s decathlon score ever, tallying 7627 points at the USA vs. The World meet in Marble Falls, Texas
Marisa Lizak bettered the existing American women’s 48-hour run record with a total of 391.87 kilometers at the Three Days at the Fair race
Chris Helwick scored an American-leading 7,430 points to win the men’s decathlon at the USA vs. The World meet in Marble Falls, Texas
Now in its 19th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2020 Winners: January 9, Miranda Melville; January 16, Paul Perry; January 23, Natosha Rogers; January 30, Tyler Day, February 6, Devin Dixon; February 13, Elle Purrier; February 20, Tori Franklin; February 27, Sandi Morris; March 4, Abdi Abdirahman; March 12 Marielle Hall; March 19, Tim Tollefson; April 2, Louise Ritter; April 9, Francie Larrieu Smith; April 16, Erin Gilreath; April 23, Suzy Powell; April 30, Joe Dial; May 7, Dawn Ellerbe; May 14, Ramona Pagel; May 21, Brian Oldfield; May 28, Jackie Joyner-Kersee; June 4, Jesse Owens; June 11, Mary Decker Slaney; June 18, Leroy Burrell; June 25, Sandra Farmer-Patrick; July 2, Jim Ryun; July 9, Evelyn Ashford; July 16, Wilma Rudolph & Shelby Houlihan; July 23, Pat Daniels & Ryan Crouser; July 30, Michael Norman & Mildred “Babe” Didriksen; August 6, Valarie Allman & Parry O’Brien; August 13, Sara Hall & Kevin Young; August 20, Justin Robinson & Jackie Joyner-Kersee; August 27, Donavan Brazier & Renaldo Nehemiah; September 3, Ryan Crouser & Mike Powell; September 10, Ryan Crouser & Wilma Rudolph; September 17, Rudy Winkler & Kate Schmidt; September 24, Ryan Crouser & Jay Silvester; October 1, Payton Chadwick & Carl Lewis; October 8, Sara Hall & Florence Griffith Joyner.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to
communications@usatf.org
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