Triple Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas has been named the 2023 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year, while Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Grant Holloway has won the Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year award. Coach Joanna Hayes has been named the 2024 USATF Coach of the Year, 16-year-old phenom Quincy Wilson is honored as the Youth Athlete of the Year, and Masters stars Nora Cary and Neringa Jakstiene are named Masters Long Distance Running and Masters Track and Field Athletes of the Year.
2024 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year Award: Gabby Thomas
Versatility across the sprint spectrum gave Thomas a hat trick at the Olympic Games, where she raced to individual glory in the 200, taking gold by a quarter-second in 21.83, and then helped Team USA to wins in the 4x100 and 4x400. Thomas, who earlier in the summer won the 200 at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, ran the third leg on both relays at Paris and was an integral part of the team setting an American record of 3:15.51 in the longer race. She previewed that double with a pair of golds at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas in May, running the second leg on the U.S. 4x100 and 4x400 teams. Thomas had five sub-22 second 200s on the year, topped by a world-leading 21.78 in the Trials semifinal.
2024 Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year Award: Grant Holloway
A stellar indoor season that featured an undefeated slate in the 60 hurdles and included a world record 7.27 at the USATF Indoor Championships and a World Athletics Indoor Championships gold made Grant Holloway the early favorite for gold in the 110 hurdles at the Olympic Games. He didn't disappoint as he took the title in Paris by a tenth of a second with a 12.99 clocking. Holloway set his season best of 12.86 in winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, and he had six races faster than 13 seconds to go along with four Diamond League wins.
Joanna Hayes Named 2024 USATF Nike Coach of the Year
Recently named the director of track and field at her alma mater, UCLA, Hayes guided Rai Benjamin to Olympic gold in the men's 400 hurdles at Paris, where he ran a 46.46 to win by more than a half-second. Benjamin also earned gold in the men's 4x400 relay, anchoring the U.S. to a 2:54.43 that just missed the world record. Undefeated in 2024, Benjamin also ventured over the flat 400 once, winning the Mt. SAC Relays in 44.42. With her collegiate coaching cap on, Hayes helped lead USC to a 10th-place NCAA outdoor finish in the women's team standings, with 400 hurdles champion Jasmine Jones setting the pace. Jones went on to make the Olympic team and place fifth in the 400H at Paris, and she was also the NCAA indoor 60H champion.
Quincy Wilson Named 2024 USATF Youth Athlete of the Year
The youngest ever men's track and field gold medalist for Team USA, Wilson earned that honor when he handled leadoff duties in the heats of the 4x400 relay. That capped off a stunning year on the track for the 16-year-old Maryland high schooler, who obliterated the world U18 best in the 400, lowering the mark three times. Wilson first broke the record with a 44.66 in the heats at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and then chopped it again in the semifinal with a 44.59. Running 44.94 to place sixth in the final, Wilson had one more record in him when he won the Holloway Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, on July 19 in 44.20. That time also put him at No. 2 on the all-time world U20 performer list.
Cary, Jakstiene Named 2024 USATF Masters Long Distance Running and Track and Field Athletes of the Year
Nora Cary won three USATF Masters road titles in 2024, exceeding 100% age-grading scores in two of them. Cary, 69, was named USATF Athlete of the Week in September after running an incredible 51:41 to win the USATF Masters 12 km Championships, achieving a 100.73% age-grading score, and she topped 100% again in winning the national 10-mile title.
Neringa Jakstiene was equally impressive on the track and in the field, setting a multitude of world and American masters records indoors and outdoors. Jakstiene, 60, captured six golds and set four American records at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden, and also won four events and set three ARs at the USATF Masters Championships in Sacramento. She set three world masters indoor records at the USATF Masters Indoor Championships in Chicago.
Dwight Phillips Set to Receive the 2024 USATF Legacy Award
One of the most bemedaled men's long jumpers in U.S. history, 2004 Olympic champion and four-time world champion Dwight Phillips will receive the USATF Legacy Award. Phillips, who had a lifetime best of 8.74/28-8.25 to rank as the fifth-best jumper in world history and fourth-best in U.S. annals, won Olympic gold at Athens and captured World Championships crowns in 2003, 2005, 2009, and 2011. He was also the World Indoor champion in 2003 and earned bronze at the World Championships in 2007. Phillips was a six-time U.S. champion and competed at seven outdoor World Championships.
Now in its third year, the USATF Legacy Award is presented to an athlete whose outstanding career accomplishments, both on and off the track, leave a lasting, immeasurable impact on the sport.
The recipients are set to be honored at the 2024 USATF Night of Legends on Saturday, December 7 in Orlando, Florida as a part of the USATF Annual Meeting. All Annual Meeting attendees are welcome to attend the ceremony alongside the winners at no cost.