Double world record setter and double World gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and World and Diamond League champion, relay silver medalist, and American record setter Noah Lyles have been named United States Track and Field (USTAF) Athletes of the year 2022.
McLaughlin-Levrone won the Joyner Kersee Female Athlete of the Year Award after going undefeated at all distances in 2022, and in the 400m hurdles since finishing second to Dalilah Muhammad’s world record in Doha in 2019.
McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400m hurdles world record for the third time in her career with a 51.41 win at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships in June, besting the field by more than a second and a half.
Less than a month later, she shattered the world record by the largest margin since 1977, bettering her mark by .73 seconds with a mind-blowing 50.68.
McLaughlin-Levrone ran sub-52 in four races this season, a barrier that had never been broken until she did it at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021.
Anchoring the women’s winning 4x400m relay with a 47.9 split, McLaughlin-Levrone and Team USATF ran away with world-leading gold in 3:17.79 over Jamaica’s 3:20.74.
Lyles, winner of the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Award also had an undefeated season and an American record in the 200m highlighted one of the best seasons ever for Lyles, who captured the World Championships gold in a stunning 19.31 to break the national record that was set in 1996 by Michael Johnson.
In his 12 races over the half-lap in 2022, Lyles had 11 wind-legal sub-20 second clockings and he capped off the year with a convincing win in the Diamond League final.
He won his eight finals by an average of .29 seconds, including a massive .46 margin to take the world title. Running the backstretch on Team USATF’s 4x100m relay at the World Championships, Lyles helped his quartet to a silver medal.
Both McLaughlin-Levrone and Lyles as well as other awardees will be honoured at the 2022 USATF Night of Legends on Saturday, December 3 in Orlando, Florida, as part of the USATF Annual Meeting.
