AAU Alumni Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Noah Lyles Win Prestigious Awards
11/18/2022
McLaughlin-Levrone named the 2022 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award Winner; Lyles named the 2022 Jesse Owens Award Winner
ORLANDO, Fla. (November 18, 2022) – Olympians and AAU alumni Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Noah Lyles are taking home some new hardware.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who participated in AAU track and field from 2007 to 2012, was named the 2022 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year, while Lyles, who participated in AAU track and field in 2012 and 2014, was named the 2022 Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year.
McLaughlin-Levrone had a standout year. In June, she broke the 400m hurdles world record for the third time in her career with a time of 51.41 seconds. Less than a month later, at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, she broke her own record again, and took home the gold, with an incredible time of 50.68. She also earned gold as the anchor in the 4x400m relay – turning a .73-second lead into a 2.93-second blowout win over Jamaica.
Lyles had an undefeated season, and broke the American record in the 200m, to finish with one of his best seasons to date. He captured the World Championships gold with a time of 19.31 to break the national record that was set in 1996 by Michael Johnson. Lyles also ran the backstretch on Team USA’s 4x100m relay, helping his team to a silver medal. He capped off the year with a convincing win in the Diamond League final in Switzerland, running a 19.52 in a headwind, which gives him five of the 13 fastest times in history.
The AAU is proud of our incredible alumni and congratulates Sydney and Noah for their amazing accomplishments.
Presented annually since 1981, the Jesse Owens Award and Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award are USA Track and Field’s highest accolades to recognize the most outstanding male and female athlete of the year. Both awards are named after track and field legends who have ties to the AAU.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee took home the 57th AAU James E. Sullivan Award in 1986 for her accomplishments as the nation’s top athlete. Jesse Owens became AAU’s inaugural Gussie Crawford Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in 2017, which recognizes athletes who paved the way for great change in amateur sports.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who participated in AAU track and field from 2007 to 2012, was named the 2022 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year, while Lyles, who participated in AAU track and field in 2012 and 2014, was named the 2022 Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year.
McLaughlin-Levrone had a standout year. In June, she broke the 400m hurdles world record for the third time in her career with a time of 51.41 seconds. Less than a month later, at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, she broke her own record again, and took home the gold, with an incredible time of 50.68. She also earned gold as the anchor in the 4x400m relay – turning a .73-second lead into a 2.93-second blowout win over Jamaica.
Lyles had an undefeated season, and broke the American record in the 200m, to finish with one of his best seasons to date. He captured the World Championships gold with a time of 19.31 to break the national record that was set in 1996 by Michael Johnson. Lyles also ran the backstretch on Team USA’s 4x100m relay, helping his team to a silver medal. He capped off the year with a convincing win in the Diamond League final in Switzerland, running a 19.52 in a headwind, which gives him five of the 13 fastest times in history.
The AAU is proud of our incredible alumni and congratulates Sydney and Noah for their amazing accomplishments.
Presented annually since 1981, the Jesse Owens Award and Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award are USA Track and Field’s highest accolades to recognize the most outstanding male and female athlete of the year. Both awards are named after track and field legends who have ties to the AAU.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee took home the 57th AAU James E. Sullivan Award in 1986 for her accomplishments as the nation’s top athlete. Jesse Owens became AAU’s inaugural Gussie Crawford Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in 2017, which recognizes athletes who paved the way for great change in amateur sports.
