Roger Kingdom, the best high-hurdler in the world, was named the top track-and-field athlete in the United States Friday night when he was given the 1989 Jesse Owens Award.
Kingdom, 27, received 2,367 points in balloting by 514 members of The Athletics Congress, athletes, officials and the media.Women's 400-meter hurdler Sandra Farmer-Patrick finished second among the five finalists with 1,639 points. She was followed by long jumper-triple jumper Mike Conley with 1,450 points, women's distance runner PattiSue Plumer with 1,147 and decathlete Dave Johnson with 1,107.
Kingdom, of Monroeville, Pa., had a sensational season. The two-time Olympic gold medalist, also a finalist for the Owens Award in 1988, broke the world record in the 110-meter high hurdles, won the world indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles and won the World Cup championship this year.
Outdoors, he won the U.S. championships, compiled winning streaks of seven and nine races in Europe, and highlighted his season by breaking Renaldo Nehemiah's 8-year-old record of 12.93 by winning the 110 hurdles in 12.92 at Zurich, Switzerland.