Robinson, JJK earn Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- In a pair of landslide votes, Justin Robinson (Hazelwood, Missouri) earned USATF Athlete of the Week after he ran the third-fastest 400m ever by a high schooler, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee was selected by fans as winner of the 21st USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for equaling the world record in the women’s long jump on August 13, 1987. 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.
 
Robinson, who already had the No. 2 performance ever by a high school athlete with a 44.84 at Albuquerque last year, romped to a 44.91 at the American Track League VII meet in Marietta, Georgia. With that performance, Robinson became the first high school athlete ever to have two sub-45 clockings in a career. A bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games in the 400m, Robinson also took gold in the 400m at the Pan American U20 Championships and helped Team USATF to a world U20 record in the 4x400m relay. He earned silver on the U.S. 4x400m relay at the Pan Am Games.
 
It is no surprise that the woman deemed by Sports Illustrated the greatest female athlete of the 20th Century is the first repeat winner of Throwback AOW. At the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Joyner-Kersee had five long jumps better than 7.00m/22-11.75 on her way to the gold, but it was her final attempt that put her in the record books. Sailing 7.45m/24-5.5 in the sixth round, JJK matched the world record set twice in 1986 by East Germany’s Heike Drechsler. Her mark remained as the American record until 1994, when she broke it again with a 7.49m/24-7 leap at New York City in May and then again at Sestriere, Italy, in July. Along with her heptathlon world record of 7,291 points from 1988, JJK owns the two oldest field event ARs in the books, as the other seven disciplines have seen records fall from 2010-2020.
 
Other historical performances of note from the August 10-16 period in USATF history:

• August 10 — Duncan MacDonald American record in men’s 5,000m, 13:19.40 at Stockholm, Sweden in 1976
• August 11 — Jay Silvester World record in men’s discus, 60.56m/198-8 at Frankfurt, Germany in 1961
• August 12 — Lillian Copeland American record in women’s shot put, 11.72m/38-5.5 at Brussels, Belgium in 1928 (also set AR in wDT that day)
• August 14 — Ralph Rose American record in men’s shot put, 15.32m/50-3 at Seattle, Washington in 1909
• August 15 — Esther Mahr American record in women’s 400m hurdles, 56.16 at Sittard, Netherlands in 1980
• August 16 — Frank Loomis World record in men’s 400m hurdles, 54.0 at Antwerp, Belgium in 1920

 
Other notable performances from the past week included:

• Donavan Brazier set a world-leading mark of 1:43.15 to win the Monaco Diamond League men’s 800m
• Noah Lyles won the men’s 200m at the Monaco Diamond League meet with a world-leading 19.76
• Lynna Irby ran the fastest time in the world in 2020 for the women’s 400m at the Monaco Diamond League meet, zipping to a 50.50
• Shannon Rowbury had the eighth-fastest women’s 5,000m performances ever by an American with a 14:45.11 at the Monaco Diamond League meet
• Sha’Carri Richardson won the women’s 100m and 200m at the Star Athletics meet in Montverde, Florida, moving atop the U.S. list in the 200m with her 22.00 PR
• Ce’Aira Brown ran the fastest women’s outdoor 800m by an American this year, winning at the Music City Distance Carnival in Nashville at 2:00.31

 
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.
 
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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