Wilson's pair of 400m records earns her USATF Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Twice breaking her own collegiate record in the 400m, Britton Wilson (Fayetteville, Arkansas/USATF Virginia) of Arkansas earned recognition as the 18th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2023.
 
Wilson, a gold medalist on Team USATF's 4x400m relay at last summer's World Athletics Championships in Eugene and a fifth-place finisher in the 400m hurdles, turned in one of the greatest sets of one-lap running and hurdling performances ever at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to earn her second AOW honor of the year. 
 
She started out with a 53.76 in the heats of the 400H on Thursday and then came back Friday with a 49.40 in the 400m prelims to break her own collegiate record of 49.51 that she set in April. Day three saw her break that record again with a stunning 49.13 to move to No. 4 on the U.S. all-time performer list and No. 17 on the world all-time performer list. Capping off her weekend, Wilson won the 400H in 53.28, the fourth-fastest in-season collegiate performance ever.
 
Other top performances from last week:

• Betsy Saina won her first USATF national title, taking the women's 25km Championships by seven seconds in 1:24:32.
• Leonard Korir defended his men's USATF 25km Championships title by four seconds with a 1:14:45.
• Ryan Willie of Florida won the men's 400m in 44.27 and ran a 43.32 anchor leg on the Gators' collegiate record 4x400m relay as the team clocked 2:57.76. He also led off the 4x100m relay that set an American collegiate record of 37.93.

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; May 9, Connor Burns; May 16, Britton Wilson.

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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