Chadwick, Lewis earn Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- An impressive Diamond League hurdle effort carried Payton Chadwick (Fayetteville, Arkansas) to a win in the fan vote for USATF Athlete of the Week, while Carl Lewis was selected by fans as the winner of the 27th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting a world record in the men’s 100m on Sept. 24, 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.
 
Winner of the 60m hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships for Arkansas in 2018, Chadwick capped off an abbreviated Diamond League campaign in style with a 12.78 to win at Doha, the final stop on the 2020 tour. It was the second-fastest time of her career and is the fastest by an American this season. She placed third at the Rome DL meet on Sept. 17 in 12.89 and then put together a superb race in Doha to beat former Razorback teammate Taliyah Brooks’ PR 12.86.
 
Arguably the greatest track and field Olympian in history, Lewis came by his world record and gold medal at Seoul in unusual fashion. Winning the Olympic Trials in a very-windy 9.78 at Indianapolis in June, Lewis faced off against Canada’s Ben Johnson in the Seoul final after clocking 9.99 in the quarterfinal and 9.97 in the semis. Johnson blasted out of the blocks in the final and stunned the world with a scorching 9.79 riding a 1.1 mps wind, with Lewis second in 9.92. Three days later Johnson was stripped of the medal and record after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, elevating Lewis to his rightful position atop the podium and in the record books.
 
The multi-talented Lewis won nine Olympic golds and eight World Championships titles in a career that spanned 16 years at the elite level. At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Lewis stamped himself as a legend by winning four golds in the 100, 200, long jump and 4x100m relay, equaling the feat first done by Jesse Owens at Berlin in 1936. He averaged better than 8.75m/28-8.5 on his ten best long jumps in his career, a distance only bettered by him and three other men in history, and he had 10 sub-20 second races in the 200m. Lewis set 12 world records in his illustrious career and one world indoor record.
 
After retiring from competition, Lewis has stayed involved in the sport as a coach at the University of Houston, where he has helped produce some of the great sprinters and relay teams in the NCAA in recent years. He was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2001 and remains one of the most recognized ambassadors of the sport worldwide.
 
Other historical performances of note from the September 21-27 period in USATF history:
 

• September 21 — Stephen Chase American record in men’s 120y hurdles, 15 2/5 at New York City in 1895
• September 22 — Bud Held American record in men’s javelin, 82.30m/270-0 at Pasadena, California in 1956
• September 23 — John Flanagan American record in men’s hammer, 51.10m/167-8 at New York City in 1899
• September 25 — James Connolly American record in men’s triple jump, 13.68m/44-10.75 at Boston in 1890
• September 26 — Alex Grant American record in men’s 2 Miles, 9:27 4/5 at New York City in 1903
• September 27 — Lon Myers American best in men’s 880y, 2:01 2/3 at New York City in 1879

 
Other notable performances from the past week included:

• Dani Moreno won the USATF Trail Half Marathon women’s title at Cable, Wisconsin, finishing in 1:21:29, almost two minutes ahead of the second-place woman
• Andy Wacker won the USATF Trail Half Marathon men’s title in 1:13:56 at Cable, Wisconsin, more than four minutes ahead of the next finisher
• Aaron Mallett blasted to a big PR of 13.15 in the men’s 110m hurdles to win at the Doha Diamond League, the final DL meet of the season

 
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.
 
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.
 
Fans can follow along with #USATF on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.