Sha’ Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles are two of the hottest names in USA Track and Field.
They are also two of the most successful sprinters in their sport.
So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise the two have been named USA Track and Field Athletes of the Year. It’s the third time Lyles has been named USA Track and Field Athlete of the Year, while it’s the first such honor for Richardson.
“It meant so much. It meant the people that supported me, the people that believed in me, my family, just knowing that hard work pays off. It has been a lot that I’ve been going through, but to overcome all of that and my work speaking for itself (after haters attempted to silence and belittle her )…it feels amazing. It feels like everything has paid off. And I’m grateful.”
Sha’Carri richardson
Lyles, 26, earned the recognition this year after seeping the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4 x 100-meter during the world championships in August. He joins Michael Johnson as the only men to win the Jesse Owens Award three times after also claiming the award in 2018 and 2022.
“Honored to be winning my 3rd Jesse Owens US Athlete of the Year award!” Lyles posted on X.
Richardson, 23, also put in work at the world championships to earn the USATF’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award. She won the 100-meter and 4 x 100-meter gold in dominant fashion and then took home the bronze in the 200-meter.
She’s now the first woman who primarily runs the 100-meter to obtain the award since 2011, when Carmelita Jeter achieved it.
“It meant so much,” she said. “It meant the people that supported me, the people that believed in me, my family, just knowing that hard work pays off. It has been a lot that I’ve been going through, but to overcome all of that and my work speaking for itself (after haters attempted to silence and belittle her )…it feels amazing. It feels like everything has paid off. And I’m grateful.”
It has been quite a successful year for the two speedsters.
According to NewsOnyx, Lyles surpassed the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, with his record of most sub-20s (races completed under 20 seconds) on July 23 during the London Athletics Meet 2023 Diamond League event.
Bolt had 34, and Lyles obtained 35.
MadameNoire reported when the 23-year-old track beast assumed the “Fasted Woman In in World” title after winning the 100-meter race at the 2023 World Athletics Championship Track and Field Event in Budapest, Hungary, in August with her record-breaking 10.65 seconds.
In the same competition where she became the fastest woman in the world, Richardson made history as the first African American woman to obtain a medal in the 4 x 100-meter and 200-meter.
When asked how much the world title meant to her, Sha’Carri expressed her gratitude to NBC Sports.
“It meant so much,” she said. “It meant the people that supported me, the people that believed in me, my family, just knowing that hard work pays off. It has been a lot that I’ve been going through, but to overcome all of that and my work speaking for itself (after haters attempted to silence and belittle her )…it feels amazing. It feels like everything has paid off. And I’m grateful.”