Nicole Teter has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after breaking the American indoor record in the Nike women’s 800m Saturday at the 2002 U.S. Indoor National Championships.

Teter turned in a stunning performance, powering far away from the field to win in 1:58.71 and shatter the former American record held by all-time greats Mary Slaney (1:58.9 hand time in 1980) and Suzy Favor Hamilton (1:59.92 in 1999). Teter had never before run under 2:00, indoors or outdoors.

“I am shocked, incredibly shocked,” said the 28-year-old Teter, who sports a Razorback tattoo on her hip as evidence of her collegiate years at Arkansas. “I’m amazed. I’ve been training really hard with a new team, the Nike Farm Team with Frank Gagliano, and I have incredible training partners. … My coach had no doubts with me. He just told me to go out there and get that record.”

Teter moved away from her family and friends in Chico, California to join the Nike Farm Team and has been training with the team for the past six months. She is a 3-time Olympic Trials qualifier and placed 4th in 800m at the 2001 U.S. Outdoor Championships with a time of 2:02.83. In her mile debut at the adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic on February 9th, Teter ran a then world-leading time of 4:32.71 en route to winning the race.

Now in its second year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF Web site. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

For more top performances from the 2002 U.S. Indoor Championships, please visit the USATF web site at www.usatf.org

2002 USATF Athlete of the Week winners: January 3, Jim Garcia; January 8, Mary Louise Michelsohn; January 15, Tamara Diles; January 22, Miguel Pate; January 29, Regina Jacobs; February 5, Jeff Hartwig; February 12, Meb Keflezighi; February 19, Curt Clausen; February 26, Jeff Hartwig; March 5, Nicole Teter.