Thomas' sprint double earns her USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS — Winning an impressive sprint double at the Texas Invitational, Gabby Thomas (Austin, Texas/USATF Texas Southern) earned recognition as the 16th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2023.
 
The Olympic bronze medalist at 200m in Tokyo and a silver medalist in the 4x100m relay, Thomas sped to a 22.21 in the 200m on Friday in Austin and then followed up Saturday with a lifetime best 49.68 in the 400m. With PBs of 11.00, 21.61 and 49.68, Thomas now ranks as the No. 12 all-time combination sprinter according to the World Athletics scoring tables. Her total of 3,697 points elevated her from 20th to 12th, passing legends like Evelyn Ashford and Sanya Richards-Ross, among others.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Ajee' Wilson won the women's 600m at the Penn Relays in 1:24.45, the ninth-fastest performance ever by an American.
• Joe Kovacs threw a world-leading 22.69m/74-5.5 to win the men's shot put at the Music City Challenge in Nashville.
• Marquis Dendy won the men's long jump at the Botswana Golden GP WCT-Gold meet with a U.S. outdoor-leading 8.34m/27-4.5.
• Nat Larson, 60, won the men's 60-64 division at the USATF Masters 10km Championships in Dedham, Massachusetts, bettering the existing American record with a 34:24.
• Grayson Murphy won the USATF Mountain Running Championships women's Vertical race in New Hampshire by almost five minutes in 35:47, and added the Up & Down title in 1:08:56.
• Jan Holmquist, 78, won her age group at the USATF Masters 10km Championships in 50:01 to better the 75-79 American record. Holmquist also holds the 70-74 record for 10km.

Now in its 22nd 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 when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

2023 Winners: January 17, Emily Sisson; January 24, Ednah Kurgat; January 31, Woody Kincaid; February 7, Grant Holloway; February 14, Yared Nuguse; February 21, Anna Hall; February 28, Talitha Diggs; March 7, Alicia Monson; March 14, Jasmine Moore; March 21, Keyzelle Thomas; March 28, Camille Herron; April 4, Hillary Bor; April 11, Valarie Allman; April 18, Britton Wilson; April 25, Brooke Andersen; May 2, Gabby Thomas.

We welcome your nominations!

To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about their performance to communications@usatf.org.

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