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Four Americans among
IAAF’s worldwide honorees - Marion Jones (former Rio Mesa HS/Thousand
Oaks HS), Gail Devers (former Sweetwater HS, National City), and Felix
Sanchez (former University City HS, San Diego) honored as among the Top
Ten Male and Female Athletes of the Year by the IAAF (World-Wide Governing
Body for Track & Field).
--Marion Jones, former
National 100m Dash Record Holder as Prep - Olympic Gold Medalist, Gail
Devers - World Class 100 Meter Hurdler (and amazing as prep at Sweetwater
HS, where she ran the 800 under 2:10, the 100 hurdles under 14, but also
ran under 20 minutes at Mt. SAC In Cross-Country (!!!) before great career
at UCLA and at open level), and Felix Sanchez - great long hurdler for
University City HS, Mesa JC, and USC Honored!!! - Read on!!!
Marion Jones, Gail Devers, Tim Montgomery and Khalid
Khannouchi are among
the top 10 male and female athletes of the year worldwide, as announced
Friday by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Joining Jones and Devers on the IAAF’s top ten
list among women were
Ethiopian distance runner Berhane Adere, Turkish 1,500m runner Sureyya
Ayhan, Swedish high jumper Kajsa Bergvist, Russian pole vaulter Svetlana
Feofanova, Bahamian sprinter Debbie Ferguson, Mexican 400m runner Ana
Guevara, Mozambique’s 800m runner Maria Mutola and British distance
runner
Paul Radcliffe.
Among the men were British triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, Hungarian
hammer
thrower Robert Fazekas, Greek 200m runner Konstadinos Kederis, Danish
800m
runner Wilson Kipketer, Polish walker Robert Korzeniowski, Dominican 400m
hurdler Felix Sanchez and Czech decathlete Roman Seberle.
Jones, Devers, Montgomery and Khannouchi all are finalists
for USA Track &
Field’s Jesse Owens Award, which goes to the top U.S. male and female
athletes of the year.
In 2002 Jones accomplished something no American, male or female,
had done
in seven years: she was undefeated. Jones was flawless with 16 wins in
the
100m, including two over World Champion Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, and
four
wins in the 200m. Not since Michael Johnson went without a loss in 1995
–
one year before his unforgettable performances at the 1996 Olympic Games
–
had an American track athlete gone undefeated. Jones in 2002 also earned
a
share of the IAAF Golden League Jackpot for the third time in her career
for
her seven wins without a loss on the circuit in the 100 meters and won
the
overall Grand Prix title. Jones also posted wins at the USA Outdoor
Championships in the 100m (11.01) and 200m (22.35). She won the World
Cup
100m in 10.90 in Madrid, and she had a tremendous double at Brussels,
where
she won the 100m in 10.88 and the 200m in 22.11, beating 2001 world 100m
champion Zhanna Pintusevich-Block in both races. Her 200m performance
in
Brussels was the fastest time in the world this year. Jones won the 100
meters at Monaco in 10.84, the fastest time by an American this season;
she
had seven of the nine fastest times in the world in2002. In her only outing
in the 400 meters, Jones won at Mt SAC in 50.46.
In one of the strongest seasons of her illustrious career, Devers
dominated
the women’s 100m hurdles by running seven of the fastest times in
the world
this year and losing only twice. Devers posted the world’s fastest
time this
season of 12.40 seconds in winning in Lausanne, and she won her 8th career
U.S. Outdoor hurdles crown with a 12.51 performance in Palo Alto, Calif.
Her
wind-aided time of 12.29 at the Prefontaine Classic in May was the fastest
time ever run by an American under any conditions. Other wins for Devers
in
2002 include Stockholm (12.42), Monaco (12.42), Brussels (12.49), Rome
(12.51) and Paris (12.51).
Montgomery seized the most glamorous title in track and field –
World’s
Fastest Human – on September 14 when he ran 9.78 for the 100 meters
at the
2002 IAAF Grand Prix Final, providing the lone world record on the track
this summer. The time broke Maurice Greene’s previous world record
of 9.79
seconds, earned Montgomery $250,000, and made him the surprise winner
of the
coveted IAAF overall Grand Prix Title. It was not his only success in
a
remarkable season. Montgomery’s notable wins on this year’s
IAAF circuit
included Brussels (9.91), Pretoria (9.94), Zurich (9.97), Cape Town (10.03)
and Stockholm (10.08). In indoor competition, Montgomery ran 6.48 in
Dortmund on Jan. 27, the fastest by an American indoors in 2002.
In April Khannouchi overcame one of the strongest marathon fields ever
assembled to break his own world record at the London Marathon in 2 hours,
5
minutes, 38 seconds. He then followed up in October with his fourth win
at
the Chicago Marathon in 2:05:56, the fourth-fastest time in history, giving
Khannouchi the two fastest marathons ever run in a single calendar year
by
one man. In one of the most highly anticipated marathons in history in
London, Khannouchi passed Paul Tergat and Haile Gebresalassie in the final
two miles for the victory. In 2002 Khannouchi also won two half-marathons,
the Kyoto City Half-Marathon in 1:02:16 and the San Blas Half-Marathon
in
1:03:37.
The IAAF announced the group of 10 men and 10 women, determined by a
panel
of 12 track and field experts from around the world. The IAF Council will
meet prior to the World Athletics Gala, which will be held November 17
in
Monte Carlo, to decide the top three male and female athletes. The Athlete
of the Year will be announced live on stage at the Gala.
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