Runner's & Triathlete's Web Athletics: News and Notes, Volume 8, Number 95

Felix and Gay finalists for 2007 Athlete of the Year

2007 Jesse Owens Award winners Allyson Felix and Tyson Gay are finalists for the 2007 United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Last year, the ballot attracted nearly half a million votes from around the globe. www.usatf.org.

At just 21 years old, Felix became the second woman in history to win three gold medals at a single World Outdoor Championships with her triumphs in Osaka, Japan. She first won the 200m in a personal-best 21.81 seconds. It was the fastest time by a woman since 1999 and was the largest margin of victory in World Outdoor history (.53). She then ran a decisive second leg on the winning 4x100m relay team, which clocked 41.98. In her final event of the World Championships, Felix clocked a 48.0 split in the 4x400m to move Team USA into a comfortable lead that propelled the Americans to a win in 3:18.55. It was the fastest time in the world since Team USA won the 1993 World title in 3:16.71 and perhaps the fastest 4x400m relay leg ever by an American woman at a major championship.

Felix ran the three 200m fastest times in the world in 2007 and five of the top eight fastest times by an American, including the 22.34 she ran to win the U.S. Outdoor Championships. She also was a strong contender in the 100 and 400. She set personal records in the 100 (11.01) and the 400 (49.70). During the Indoor season, Felix ran one race, the 300m at the Tyson Invitational, where she set an American best in winning in 36.33.

In 2007, Tyson Gay had an historic year, sweeping the 100 and 200 meters at both the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Osaka and the USA Outdoor Championships. He added World Outdoor gold in the 4x100m to become the fourth man in World Championships history to win three gold medals at a single championship. In Osaka, he won his first gold in the 100, blazing to a 9.85 victory to relegate world-record holder Asafa Powell to third. Gay then took down Michael Johnson's 200m meet record, coming from behind to win his second gold medal of the meet in 19.76. He finished his global trifecta by running the third leg on the winning men's 4x100m relay that won a nail-biter of a race in 37.78.

Gay had given notice of his prowess at the U.S. Outdoor Championships, cementing his status as the world's most dominant all-around sprinter with his meet record wins in the 100 (9.84, -.5m/s) and 200 (19.62, -.3m/s) in posting the fastest 100-200 double in history. Gay also came away from the meet with the men's Visa Championship as the top male performer of the Visa Championship Series.

This 2007 female ballot includes American swimmer Natalie Coughlin, Ethiopian runner Meseret Defar, Felix, Austrian skier Renate Goetschl, Belgian tennis star Justine Henin, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Australian basketball player Lauren Jackson, Swedish heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Norwegian golfer Suzann Pettersen, American tennis great Venus Williams and American swimmer Kate Ziegler.

The 2007 male ballot includes Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, Swiss tennis great Roger Federer, Gay, Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie, Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James, NASCAR Champion Jimmy Johnson, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, American swimming star Michael Phelps and golf superstar Tiger Woods.

As in years past, the athlete receiving the most votes will be named the Academy's Athlete of the Year. Past winners include Lance Armstrong, Roger Federer, Mia Hamm, Michael Jordan, Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods. In addition to the overall winner, a Female Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year will be named from the athletes who receive the most votes, outside of the overall winner, in each of the respective categories.

Site selections from the 2007 Annual Meeting

The following site selections for upcoming USATF national championships were made at the 2007 Annual Meeting last week in Honolulu, Hawaii.

2008 National Club Track & Field Championships - Olathe, KS
2008 National Club Cross Country Championships - Spokane, WA
2008 USA 50km Road Championships - Long Island, NY
2008 USA 100km Road Championships - Madison, WI
2008 USA Mountain Championships - Gorham, NH
USA Trail Marathon Championships - Deadwood, SD
2008 USA 10km Trail Championships - Steamboat Springs, CO
2008 USA 100M Trail Championships - Lake Tahoe, CA
2008 USA 50M Trail Championships - White River, WA
2008 USA 100km Trail Championships - Willamette Pass, OR
2008 USA 50M Road Championships - Boalsburg, PA
2009 USA Track & Field Masters Indoor Championships - Landover, MD
2009 USA Youth Track & Field Championships - Detroit, MI
2009 USATF National Junior Olympic Outdoor Track & Field Championships - Greensboro, N.C.
2009 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships - Reno, NV

Top international women set for Reebok Boston Indoor Games

Carolina Kluft and Meseret Defar, widely considered the top female track-and-field athletes in the world,will be among the headliners at the 2008 Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the second stop in USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series,on January 26, organizers announced today. Tickets for the 13th annual Olympic-style event are on sale now by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC.

As reigning Olympic gold medalist in the heptathlon, Kluft owns the unofficial title of World's Best Female Athlete. The 24-year-old from Sweden reinforced her claim last summer by becoming the first three-time heptathlon World Champion in the history of the sport. In Boston, she will compete in the long jump, her best individual event. In 2004, she made the Olympic long jump final just days after winning heptathlon gold.

Defar's 2007 season, meanwhile, was highlighted by four World Records and a World Championship gold medal at 5000 meters. The Ethiopian distance star, also 24, was honored last month by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the world's governing body of the sport, as 2007 World Athlete of the Year. Last year, Defar set world marks at 3000 meters indoors, 5000 meters and 2 Miles (twice). The distance at which she will compete in Boston is yet to be announced.

The 13th-annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games begins at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont St. Information is now available on-line at www.BostonIndoorGames.com , and tickets are on sale by phone at 1-877-TIX-TRAC. On-line ticket sales will begin soon.