INDIANAPOLIS — Adding on to his impressive streak of sub-45 second performances in the men’s 400m this season, Michael Cherry (Inglewood, California) earned recognition as the 27th USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2021. Cherry, a gold medalist on Team USATF’s 4x400m relay squad at Tokyo and the fourth-place finisher in the open 400m, won the 400m at the Brussels Diamond League meet in 44.03 – a lifetime best – and also was victorious at the Chorzów World Continental Tour meet in 44.94 – his 13th straight sub-45 clocking of the season. Also a gold medalist in the 4x400m at the 2019 World Championships, Cherry has lowered his outdoor personal best in the 400m four times in 2021 and started off his three-meet winning streak on Aug. 31 with a victory at Rovereto in his first post-Games appearance. Other top performances from last week:
Now in its 20th 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 when there are high-level competitions and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week. 2021 Winners: January 21, KC Lightfoot; January 28, Ryan Crouser; February 4, Bryce Hoppel; February 11, Athing Mu; February 18, Elle Purrier; February 25, Jaylen Slade; March 4, Grant Holloway; March 11, Emmanuel Bor; March 18, Tara Davis; March 25, Emily Sisson; April 1, Tara Davis; April 8, Kenny Selmon; April 15, DeAnna Price; April 22, Athing Mu; April 29, Rudy Winkler; May 6, Trayvon Bromell; May 13, Sha’Carri Richardson; May 20, Athing Mu; May 27, Ryan Crouser; June 3, Maggie Malone; June 10, Trayvon Bromell; June 24, Ryan Crouser; July 1, Sydney McLaughlin; July 21, Maggie Malone; August 25, Athing Mu; September 2, Courtney Dauwalter; September 9, Michael Cherry. 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. Fans can follow along with #USATF on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.