Sha’Carri Richardson snubbed for prestigious American award as Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lead nominee list
Despite walking away with two medals in her maiden Olympics in Paris, Sha’Carri Richardson didn’t make the nominee list of the USATF Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year award, which has Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in contention.
Richardson blazed to an Olympic 100m silver medal behind Julien Alfred and anchored Team USA’s women’s 4x100m relay squad to a famous gold medal despite receiving the baton in third position to cap off her brilliant outing in Paris.
With her exclusion from this year’s USATF Jackie Joyner-Kersee Athlete of the Year nominee list, a new winner will be crowned after Richardson won the award for the 2023 season in recognition of her outstanding accomplishment that year by becoming the world 100m champion, 200m bronze medallist, and 4x100m champion.
Meanwhile, the nominees on the list all became Olympic champions in Paris, recording iconic performances and are deserving of being on the list.
Thomas was crowned track’s golden girl after winning three gold medals in the women’s 200m, 4x100m, and 4x400m, while McLaughlin-Levrore successfully defended her Olympic 400mH title in a new World Record (WR) – her sixth time breaking the WR and played a vital role in the 4x400m gold medal-winning relay squad.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner celebrated for her incredible versatility and achievements in athletics.
Hassan is renowned for her ability to compete at the highest level in a wide range of distances, from the 1500 meters to the marathon. This is evidenced by her unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she won gold in the 5000 and 10,000 meters and bronze in the 1500 meters.
This feat made her the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and long-distance races in a single Games.
Her dominance is not limited to the Olympics. She is a two-time World Champion, winning gold in the 1500 and 10,000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
