Gay, Felix win USOC Awards – Tom Surber Media Information Manager USA Track & Field

Reigning world champions and Jesse Owens Award winners Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix were named the recipients of two prestigious awards from the United States Olympic Committee on Thursday. Gay was named the USOC's SportsMan of the Year and Felix was named the recipient of the Women's Outstanding Performance of the Year Award.

In 2007, Gay had an historic year, sweeping the 100 and 200 meters at both the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Osaka and the USA Outdoor Championships. He added World Outdoor gold in the 4x100m to become the fourth man in World Championships history to win three gold medals at a single championship. In Osaka, he won his first gold in the 100, blazing to a 9.85 victory to relegate world-record holder Asafa Powell to third. Gay then took down Michael Johnson's 200m meet record, coming from behind to win his second gold medal of the meet in 19.76. He finished his global trifecta by running the third leg on the winning men's 4x100m relay that won a nail-biter of a race in 37.78.

Gay had given notice of his prowess at the U.S. Outdoor Championships, cementing his status as the world's most dominant all-around sprinter with his meet record wins in the 100 (9.84, -.5m/s) and 200 (19.62, -.3m/s) in posting the fastest 100-200 double in history. Gay also came away from the meet with the men's Visa Championship as the top male performer of the Visa Championship Series.

Establishing himself as the world's top big-meet, championship runner, Gay won every race he entered in the 100 and 200 in 2007, save for one. He ran five of the seven fastest times by an American in the 100 and three of the four fastest times by an American in the 200, including the 2007 world leader (19.62).

"It's an honor to receive the SportsMan of the Year Award," said Gay. "I'm really looking forward to winning this award again next year. I've put a lot of hard work in, I'm not taking anything for granted and I'm just wanting to stay dedicated and work on my craft."

At just 21 years old, Allyson Felix became the second woman in history to win three gold medals at a single World Outdoor Championships with her triumphs in Osaka, Japan. She first won the 200m in a personal-best 21.81 seconds. It was the fastest time by a woman since 1999 and was the largest margin of victory in World Outdoor history (.53). She then ran a decisive second leg on the winning 4x100m relay team, which clocked 41.98.

In her final event of the World Championships, Felix ran perhaps the fastest 4x400m relay leg ever by an American woman at a major championship and the fastest by any woman since the 1980s. Again running second leg for Team USA, she clocked a 48.0 split to move Team USA into a comfortable lead that propelled the Americans to a win in 3:18.55. It was the fastest time in the world since Team USA won the 1993 World title in 3:16.71.

Felix ran the three 200m fastest times in the world in 2007 and five of the top eight fastest times by an American, including the 22.34 she ran to win the U.S. Outdoor Championships. She also was a strong contender in the 100 and 400. She set personal records in the 100 (11.01) and the 400 (49.70). During the Indoor season, Felix ran one race, the 300m at the Tyson Invitational, where she set an American best in winning in 36.33.

For more information on the 2007 USOC Performance Awards, visit www.usoc.org

Tom Surber Media Information Manager USA Track & Field
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