Williams, Jeter Capture Owens Award

The Jesse Owens Award — serving as USA Track & Field’s highest honor since 1981 — will be awarded to Jesse Williams and Carmelita Jeter at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Dec. 3 in St. Louis, Mo.

Williams — the first American to win a world high jump crown since Charles Austin in 1991 — had a remarkable season and beat out Walter Dix, Ashton Eaton, Ryan Hall, Trey Hardee, Bernard Lagat, Dwight Phillips, Jason Richardson, Galen Rupp and Christian Taylor for the award.

"This year has been an unbelievable year for me," he said. "I was on the verge of doing some big things before, but it just didn't go my way. This year things started clicking and I was on a roll. I knew going into Daegu that I was going to win it. I feel you have to have that attitude going into a championship. Yes, since 1991, no gold medals — no medals — were won in the high jump at the World Championships. I knew that going in; I'm a student of the sport. I knew that I could make a historical impact for the U.S. in my event. It's a big honor obviously."

Similarly, Jeter had a tremendous breakthrough in 2011, which included a 100-meter dash victory at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. She picked up double gold by running anchor of the 4x100-meter relay, which handled a strong Jamaican entry, and added a silver in the individual 200. On the season, she had the world's top 100m time (10.70) as well as the second-best 200m mark (22.20).

"I definitely needed to show myself that I could win at Championships," said the 31-year-old Jeter. "Having two bronze medals is definintly a blessing, don’t get me wrong. I don't want you to think I was not grateful for the things I have achieved. But I was missing something, and I was missing that gold medal in the 100m, and I achieved that this year."

Other women vying for the Owens Award were Jillian Camarena-Williams, Desiree Davila, Lashinda Demus, Allyson Felix, Brittney Reese, Jenny Simpson and Morgan Uceny.