Crouser, Daniels earn Athlete of the Week honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ryan Crouser (Boring, Oregon) became the =3rd best thrower in men’s shot put history to earn USATF Athlete of the Week, and Pat Daniels was selected by fans as winner of the 17th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for her American record-setting 800m in 1961. In the absence of regular competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking a weekly look back at some of the great efforts by American track and field athletes through the years.
 
Crouser, the reigning Olympic champion, uncorked a massive 22.91m/75-2 in the sixth round at the ATL II meet in Marietta, Georgia to move to a tie for third on the all-time world performer list with Team USATF’s 2019 World Champion Joe Kovacs and Italy’s Alessandro Andrei. It tied Crouser for the fourth-best performance in history, and he had a 22.73m/74-7 in the previous round, the 13th best performance in history.
 
Daniels, a three-time Olympian, set her American record of 2:13.1 in an international dual meet with West Germany at Stuttgart on July 19, 1961. Still a high schooler at Cupertino (California) in 1960, she won the U.S. Olympic Trials at Abilene, Texas, with an AR of 2:15.6, but was disqualified at the Games in Rome.
 
Better known later in her career as a multi-eventer, Daniels was seventh in the pentathlon at the ‘64 Olympics in Tokyo and sixth at Mexico City in ‘68. In 1967 she took gold in the pentathlon at the Pan American Games. She won eight AAU pentathlon titles in addition to two 800m golds and the long jump in 1967. Daniels won Olympic Trials titles in the 800m (‘60) and pentathlon (‘64).
 
The first coach of the women’s track and field team at UCLA, Daniels led the squad to AIAW national titles in 1975 and ‘77. She later guided Evelyn Ashford to a world record in the 100m in 1983 and a gold at the ‘84 Los Angeles Olympics.
 
Other historical performances of note from the July 13-19 period in USATF history:
 

• July 13 — Buddy Edelen American record in men’s 6 Miles, 28:26.0 at London, England in 1962
• July 14 — Walter Tewksbury American record in men’s 400m hurdles, 61.0 at Paris, France in 1900
• July 15 — Willye White American record in women’s long jump, 6.21m/20-4.5 at Abilene, Texas in 1960
• July 16 — Ralph Boston World record in men’s long jump, 8.28m/27-2 at Moscow, Russia in 1961
• July 17 — Wyomia Tyus World record in women’s 100y, 10.3 at Kingston, Jamaica in 1965
• July 18 — Rick Wohlhuter American record in men’s 800m, 1:43.91 at Stockholm, Sweden in 1974

 
Other notable performances from the past week included:

• Katie Nageotte cleared an outdoor personal best 4.83m/15-10 at the ATL II meet in Marietta, the best women’s pole vault outdoor mark in the world this year.
• Shannon Rowbury ran the fastest outdoor women’s 3,000m of 2020 with an 8:40.26 at The Bigger Friendly meet in Oregon.
• Nia Akins clocked a PR 1:27.20 to win the women’s 600m at The Bigger Friendly meet in Oregon.
• Daniel Haugh won the ATL II men’s hammer with a U.S.-leading 76.22m/250-1.
• Keira D’Amato ran the fastest 10,000m by an American woman this year with a 32:33.44 at the MVMNT I meet in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

 
Now in its 19th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
 
2020 Winners: January 9, Miranda Melville; January 16, Paul Perry; January 23, Natosha Rogers; January 30, Tyler Day, February 6, Devin Dixon; February 13, Elle Purrier; February 20, Tori Franklin; February 27, Sandi Morris; March 4, Abdi Abdirahman; March 12 Marielle Hall; March 19, Tim Tollefson; April 2, Louise Ritter; April 9, Francie Larrieu Smith; April 16, Erin Gilreath; April 23, Suzy Powell; April 30, Joe Dial; May 7, Dawn Ellerbe; May 14, Ramona Pagel; May 21, Brian Oldfield; May 28, Jackie Joyner-Kersee; June 4, Jesse Owens; June 11, Mary Decker Slaney; June 18, Leroy Burrell; June 25, Sandra Farmer-Patrick; July 2, Jim Ryun; July 9, Evelyn Ashford; July 16, Wilma Rudolph & Shelby Houlihan; July 23, Pat Daniels & Ryan Crouser.
 
We welcome your nominations!
 
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to communications@usatf.org.
 
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