Brazier, Nehemiah earn Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- In a pair of fan votes, Donavan Brazier (Portland, Oregon) earned USATF Athlete of the Week after he closed out an undefeated season, and Renaldo Nehemiah was selected as winner of the 22nd USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting a world record in the men’s 110m hurdles on August 19, 1981. 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.
 
Brazier, the reigning World Champion and American record-holder at 800m, won the 600m at the Gyulai Memorial meet in Hungary mid-week before putting an emphatic stamp on his 2020 campaign with a 1:43.76 win at the Stockholm Diamond League meet. It was the seventh win in a row at all distances this season for Brazier, and his last loss in a final came at the Doha Diamond League meet on May 3, 2019.
 
One of the greatest athletes never to have won a gold medal at the Olympics, Nehemiah became the first man ever to crack the 13-second barrier in the 110H with a scintillating 12.93 at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich, Switzerland. The race was close at the start, with his main rival, Greg Foster, even through hurdle four. By the sixth barrier, Nehemiah started to pull away as Foster felt a hamstring twinge. From there it was into the record books for the third time. Nehemiah had scared sub-13 at the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA in 1979, stopping the clock at 13.00 and chopping .16 off his first WR, set a month before at San Jose.
 
In his prime in 1980, Nehemiah was denied the chance at Olympic glory by the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games, and he later decided to try professional football. After signing with the San Francisco 49ers in 1982, Nehemiah played three years and caught 43 passes for 754 yards and four touchdowns. He earned a Super Bowl ring in 1984 and returned to track and field in 1986. Following his retirement in 1991, Nehemiah has become one of the top athlete managers in the world and currently runs Athletics Promotion Ltd.
 
Other historical performances of note from the August 17-23 period in USATF history:

• August 17 - Paddy Ryan World record in men’s hammer, 57.77m/189-6 at New York City in 1913
• August 18 — Margaret Matthews American record in women’s long jump, 5.89m/19-4 at Philadelphia in 1956
• August 20 — Lucille Godbold American bests in women’s 200m and 800m, 28 1/5 and 2:35.0 at Paris, France in 1922
• August 21 — Ralph Rose World record in men’s shot put, 15.54m/51-0 at San Francisco in 1909
• August 22 - Fortune Gordien World record in men’s discus, 59.28m/194-6 at Pasadena, California in 1953
• August 23 — Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson American record in women’s 100m hurdles, 13.32 at Munich, Germany in 1972 

Other notable performances from the past week included:

• Cory McGee set a personal best of 2:00.16 to win the Sunset Tour women’s 800m
• Lauren Paquette won the Sunset Tour women’s 5,000m in a PR 15:10.01
• Nick Ponzio won the Desert High Performance men’s shot put with a 21.60m/70-10.5 throw
• Sophia Gorriaran moved to third on the freshman girls’ high school 800m list with a 2:02.90 at the Ed Murphey Classic
• Wadeline Jonathas picked up a pair of wins in the women’s 400m, clocking 51.94 at the Stockholm Diamond League meet after winning the Gyulai Memorial in 52.09

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.
 
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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