Grant Holloway has recently won the highest USATF honor and Noah Lyles could not be more happy about the same. Having won the Olympic gold medal on the back of an impeccable season, Holloway has been awarded the Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year Award 2024. The award, named after the legendary sprinter, Jesse Owens, is being awarded to the best track and field athlete of the year. It is considered the ultimate recognition in the US track and field fraternity. 

The award was initially awarded to hurdler Edwin Moses back in 1981. However, in 1996, the award was subdivided into two categories—the male and the female division. Over the years, some of the most iconic athletes have been associated with this award and now it is time for Holloway to receive the honor. In a recent X post from the official handle of USATF, the news of Holloway getting the award was being posted. 

They wrote, “It’s official… 60m hurdles world record holder and 110m hurdles Olympic champion Grant Holloway has won USATF’s highest honor – the USATF Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year Award!” Hearing the news, congratulations started pouring in immediately. Among all the messages, there was one particular message that caught the eye. It was none other than Olympic 100m gold medalist Noah Lyles cheering for his fellow teammate. Elated by the news, Lyles wrote, “It’s About Time! Give this man his Flowers.” Not only Lyles but the female winner, Gabby Thomas too, had words of praise for Holloway. Reacting to the news, Thomas took to her X account and wrote, “Hard work pays off!! See you in Orlando .”

Surely, there was no one else more worthy than Holloway to have received the award. Participating in the indoor competitions, Holloway remained undefeated in the 60m category. He won the gold medal at the World Athletics Indoor Championships while notching up a world record time of 7.27 in the USATF Indoor Championships. Riding on the back of such impeccable form, his Olympic qualification was just a matter of time. 

And rightly so, Holloway qualified for Paris without much fuss. Running at the US Trials, Holloway clocked his best timing of the season with a 12.86 dash. Touted as the favorite to win the 110-meter hurdles, Holloway did not disappoint his fans. Clocking 12.99 at the Olympics, Holloway took the gold medal to round off one of his most successful years.

Incidentally, Holloway ran six races under the 13-second mark. He also won four Diamond Leagues, making him the most suitable man to receive the crown. However, while Noah Lyles expressed his elation on the matter, a few days back, the 100-meter champion, too, had the opportunity to win a similar honor. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out well for Lyles.

Noah Lyles misses out on the ANOC Male Athlete of The Year Award

The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) jury recently gave their verdict on who the male athlete of the year was. While the award was clinched by the Botswana sprinter, Lestile Tebogo, a lot of fans expected Noah Lyles to win the same. After all, Lyles won the Olympic 100m dash gold medal emphatically. He also clinched the bronze medal in the 200m category, running with a Covid infection. Unfortunately, these were not enough, as Letsile Tebogo had an overall better year than Lyles. 

Leading up to Paris, Tebogo clocked some impressive timings regularly. The Botswana sprinter had clocked timings of under 19.4 and 19.5s throughout the year. And then he went for the ultimate kill by winning the 200-meter gold medal in Paris. But that was not all the story. Tebogo also notched up several crucial victories in the Diamond Leagues that followed the Paris Olympics. 

Hailing the champion, track icons Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green stated that it was Tebogo’s consistency that edged out Lyles. Green analyzed Tebogo’s run as he said, “Yeah, that last 50 meters, how that boy closed. He’s ran on a consistent level under 19.4, 19.5.” Agreeing with the narrative, Gatlin too chimed in as well.

He shared, “Too much speed endurance…He [Letsile Tebogo] has a reservoir of talent and the fact is his issue is going to be which one is he going to pick, which one is he going to focus on cuz [because] he’s that true hybrid athlete that he can do a little bit of everything and he could do it very well.” Thus, with the awards coming in at the end of the track season, it will be a joy-filled year ending for all the ones who have won it. And for the ones who didn’t, they will have to pull up their socks and come out all guns blazing to make their mark in the new season.