D’Amato, White earn USATF Athlete of the Week honors (Nov. 23-29)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Continuing her streak of personal bests in 2020, Keira D’Amato (Richmond, Virginia) was selected as USATF Athlete of the Week for bettering the women-only American record for 10 miles on the road, while Olympic legend Willye White was the winner of the 36th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting an American record in the women’s long jump on November 27, 1956. 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.
 
Nearing the end of a year that has already seen her set lifetime bests in the 10,000m, half marathon and marathon, the 36-year-old D’Amato chalked up another stellar effort at the Up Dawg 10 Miler in Washington, D.C., on November 24 when she chopped 49 seconds off the existing AR of 52:12 set in 2014 by Janet Bawcom. D’Amato ran away from her competitors from the gun and beat runner-up Molly Seidel by more than two minutes.
 
The first woman to compete for the U.S. in five Olympics, White was the top American long jumper during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. She was a 16-year-old sophomore in high school when she first appeared in Olympic competition at Melbourne in 1956, taking the silver medal with her American record 6.09m/19-11.75 in the final round. 
 
After enrolling at Tennessee State University under Hall of Fame coach Ed Temple, she appeared in the 1960 Olympics, and four years later she won a silver medal in the 4x100m relay after a 12th in the long jump. She was 11th in the long jump in 1968 and 1972, her other two Olympic appearances.
 
She competed in three Pan American Games, taking gold in 1963 and bronze in 1959 and 1967. A veteran of 34 international teams (including 11 consecutive years of competing in the USA-USSR dual meet), White won a dozen National AAU long jump titles, 11 outdoors. She also set the national long jump record on seven occasions. 
 
A member of the Black Sports Hall of Fame and the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, she established the Willye White Foundation in 1991 to help young girls develop self-esteem and become more productive citizens within their communities. White was a nurse in Chicago before moving into public health administration, and she also served as a coach or manager on several international teams. She was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1981 and died at age 68 in 2007.
 
Other noteworthy performances from the period November 23-29 in USATF history:

• November 23 — Earlene Brown American record in women’s discus, 51.35m/168-5 at Melbourne, Australia in 1956
• November 24 — Eddie Southern American record in men’s 400m hurdles, 50.26 at Melbourne, Australia in 1956
• November 27 — Bobby Morrow =American record in men’s 200m, 20.6 at Melbourne, Australia in 1956
• November 28 — Karen Anderson-Oldham American record in women’s javelin, 49.64m/162-10 at Melbourne, Australia in 1956

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; October 8, Sara Hall & Florence Griffith Joyner; October 15, Shadrack Kipchirchir & Johnny J. Kelley; October 22, Katie Thronson & Billy Mills; October 29, Jaci Smith & Joan Benoit Samuelson; November 5, Molly Huddle & Julie Brown; November 12, Tierney Wolfgram & Hal Connolly; November 19, Lon Myers; November 26, Earlene Brown & Tom McCormack; December 3, Keira D’Amato & Willye White.

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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