Contact:  Jill M. Geer
Director of Communications
USA Track & Field
Jgeer@usatf.org
317-261-0500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 30, 2000

STACY DRAGILA, ANGELO TAYLOR WIN OWENS AWARDS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Olympic gold medalists Stacy Dragila and Angelo Taylor have been named the recipients of the Jesse Owens Awards for 2000. The announcement came Thursday from Albuquerque where USA Track & Field's 22nd Annual Meeting is taking place at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The Owens Awards, named for the hero of the 1936 Olympics, go to the year's outstanding male and female performers of United States track and field, long distance running and race walking.

The awards will be presented in Albuquerque on Saturday, December 2, during the Xerox Honors America's Olympians: The Jesse Owens Award Dinner and Xerox Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

"Stacy and Angelo are two outstanding athletes whose performances at the Olympics were dramatic and compelling," said USATF CEO Craig Masback. "Stacy has shown herself to be such an incredible competitor, and it was fitting that she won the first women's Olympic pole vault. Angelo at such a young age has come along so quickly. Who would of thought he could win the gold medal coming out of lane one. Stacy and Angelo are richly deserving of this year's Jesse Owens Awards."

Dragila and Taylor both expressed surprise and appreciation for receiving the honor.

"I remember when I was in the hall last year when Maurice Greene and Inger Miller received the award," Dragila said. "I thought, 'Gosh, I hope someday I can be looked on as highly as these two in terms of their successes.' It just amazed me. Every day I go out to the track and do what I am supposed to do. Now to be recognized with such a prestigious honor, its very overwhelming to me."

"I'm very honored to be a recipient of this award," said the 21-year-old Taylor. "Jesse Owens is the epitome of track. To receive such a high honor at such a young age is truly an honor to me."

Dragila had a 2000 season that was nothing short of historic. It was a season in which she completed her dominance of her event by winning the gold medal in the first-ever Olympic women's pole vault and breaking the World Record five times.

Indoors, she broke the World Record for the vault three times during the Indoor Golden Spike Tour, culminating in her clearance of 4.62 meters (15 feet, 1.75 inches) while winning her fifth straight title at the USA Indoor Championships in Atlanta. Dragila's dominance continued during the outdoor campaign where she broke her own World Record in May, then raised that standard again when she won the Olympic Trials with a clearance of 4.63 meters (15-2.25). At the Olympics in Sydney, Dragila ended her remarkable season by winning the event after a tight three-woman battle, clearing 4.60 (15-1) to capture the gold.

Dragila's Olympic victory stands as the highlight of an historic track and field career. In 1999 she became the first and only women's world pole vault champion, and she is the American and world record holder in her event. Dragila is the 1997 world indoor champion, and she has captured a total of eight combined U.S. indoor and outdoor titles. A 1995 graduate of Idaho State University, the 29-year-old Dragila is married to Brent Dragila and is coached by Dave Nielsen. She resides in Pocatello, Idaho.

Not only was Angelo Taylor the 2000 IAAF Grand Prix overall champion and one of only four U.S. track and field athletes to win two gold medals at the Olympic Games, the 21-year-old also completed the feat in almost unheard-of fashion.

Running out of lane 1 in the 400 hurdles, Taylor's lane draw was considered the kiss of death in perhaps track's most grueling event. Despite the handicap of running out of lane 1, Taylor used a gutsy home-stretch run to win Olympic gold by .03 seconds. He then ran the first two rounds of the men's 4x400-meter relay to win his second gold of the Games.

Taylor closed off his stunning 2000 season by winning the Grand Prix Final in Doha, Qatar, a performance that put him atop the IAAF's overall Grand Prix Rankings, based on points earned on the Grand Prix circuit.

The Olympic Trials champion set multiple personal records over the course of the year, including his 47.62 clocking at the Trials, which he later eclipsed with his 47.50 gold medal winning performance in Sydney, a time that stood as the fastest in the world in 2000. Blessed with uncommon speed, Taylor's resume includes the 1999 U.S. Indoor 400-meter title and 1998 NCAA 400 hurdles championship to go along with the 1999 U.S. Outdoor and 2000 Olympic Trials titles. Taylor attended Georgia Tech, is coached by Grover Hinsdale and resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Nominees for the 2000 Jesse Owens Award were Gail Devers, Stacy Dragila, Regina Jacobs and Marion Jones for the women and Maurice Greene, Nick Hysong, Michael Johnson, Adam Nelson and Angelo Taylor for the men.

Previous winners of the Jesse Owens Award include Edwin Moses (1981), Carl Lewis (1982 and 1991), Mary Decker (1983), Joan Benoit (1984), Willie Banks (1985), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1986 and 1987), the late Florence Griffith Joyner (1988), Roger Kingdom (1989), Lynn Jennings (1990), Kevin Young (1992), Gail Devers (1993 and 1996), Michael Johnson (1994, 1995 and 1996), Allen Johnson (1997), Marion Jones (1997 and 1998), John Godina (1998), Inger Miller (1999) and Maurice Greene (1999).

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