Richards named finalist for United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year Award
Posted Wednesday, 6 December, 2006
Contact:
Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field
317-713-4690
2006 Jesse Owens Award winner and IAAF World Athlete of the Year Sanya Richards is a finalist for the 2006 United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com. Last year, the ballot attracted nearly half a million votes from sports fans around the globe.
Votes will be collected online from December 1-25. The ballot will be located on a website hosted by the Academy, which is currently available through a direct link from the USA Track & Field website at www.usatf.org.
At just 21 years of age, Richards had one of the greatest seasons ever by an American 400-meter runner in 2006. She ran under 50 seconds nine times during the season, including breaking the American record on September 16 with her time of 48.70 at the IAAF World Cup in Athens. Her performance easily broke Valerie Brisco's national mark of 48.83, set at the 1984 Olympic Games.
All told, Richards ran the five fastest times in the world in 2006, the six fastest times by an American and 10 of the top 11 American performances. She was undefeated outdoors in the 400 on the year, winning a $249,999 portion of the jackpot for sweeping the Golden League series and taking the USA Indoor, USA Outdoor, World Athletics Final and World Cup titles. Richards won 15 consecutive races and added the World Cup 200m crown as well.
The 2006 female ballot includes American basketball player Laura Harper, Belgian tennis player Justine Henin-Hardenne, Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen, WNBA All Star Lisa Leslie, French swimming star Laure Manaudou, French tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, Russian figure skater Irina Slutskaya, LPGA player Karrie Webb and Chinese gymnast Nan Zhang.
The 2006 male ballot includes South Korean speed skater Hyun-Soo Ahn, Ethiopian runner Kenenisa Bekele, Italian soccer star Fabio Cannavaro, Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, American NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, American golfer Phil Mickelson, American swimming star Michael Phelps, Major League Baseball All Star Albert Pujols, Heisman Trophy candidate Troy Smith, American basketball player Dwyane Wade, American golfer Tiger Woods and American football player Vince Young.
As in years past, the male or female athlete receiving the most votes will be named the Academy's Athlete of the Year. In addition to the overall winner, a Female Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year will be named. These two awards will go to the athlete who receives the most votes, outside of the overall winner, in each of the respective categories.
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