Athletics: Gay, Richards earn 2009 Owens awards
Posted: 20 November 2009 1007 hrs

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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: Tyson Gay and Sanya Richards were named the 2009 Jesse Owens Award recipients Thursday, the second time that each has earned the USA Track and Field honour.

Gay also received the Owens award in 2007, and Richards won it in 2006. They will receive their awards at a ceremony on December 5.

USATF chief executive Doug Logan said Gay and Richards "rank among this country's all-time great track athletes."

Gay tied or lowered his American 100m record three times in three months this year, with a best of 9.69 seconds.

That tied him with world record-holder Usain Bolt for the second-fastest time in history.

Gay also ran the 200m in 19.58 this year, the fifth-fastest time ever.

Richards won the women's 400m world title and ran the anchor leg to help the United States capture the 4x400m relay at the world championships in Berlin.

Logan said the awards were particularly relevant in a year in wich Owens was remembered by athletes competing in Berlin, where Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games to give the lie to Adolf Hitler's notions of Aryan supremacy.

"All of us at USA Track and Field congratulate Tyson and Sanya on winning the Jesse Owens Award, particularly in a year when the legacy of Jesse Owens was at the forefront of all our minds," Logan said.

The awards have long been voted on by members of US athletics media. This year for the first time fans had a voice thanks to polling conducted on the USATF website that counted toward 10 per cent of the outcome.

- AFP/yb