Two AAU James E. Sullivan Award Winners To Be Inducted Into 2022 Pac-12 Hall of Honor
03/09/2022
AAU James E. Sullivan Award winners, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and John Naber, will be inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor
ORLANDO, Fla. (2022) -- The Pac-12 Conference recently announced the 2022 class to be inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor, the Conference’s most prestigious recognition of the greatest on and off-field contributors to Pac-12 athletics.
Two of the athletes being honored in this year’s class are winners of the AAU’s most prestigious award, the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. The Sullivan Award is presented to the top amateur athlete of the year. Jackie Joyner-Kersee and John Naber have both won the award and are now being honored by the Pac-12.
A multi-talented competitor in both women’s basketball and track and field, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is regarded as one of the greatest female athletes of all time. She led UCLA women’s track and field to national titles in 1982 and 1983, and still sits atop the UCLA record books in heptathlon and long jump. The first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the long jump and the first woman to compile more than 7,000 points in the seven-event heptathlon, Joyner-Kersee went on to win three golds, a silver and two bronze medals over four separate Olympics. In 1986, Joyner-Kersee was presented with the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. In 2013, the USA Track & Field’s Women’s Athlete of the Year award was renamed after Joyner-Kersee to recognize her amazing achievements.
The most decorated swimmer in USC history, John Naber captured 10 individual NCAA titles during his collegiate career, the second-most in collegiate history, while also leading the Trojans to four-straight NCAA team titles. On the international stage, Naber was the most decorated athlete for Team USA at the 1976 Olympics with four gold medals and one silver, setting four world records in the process. In 1977 he would be recognized for his efforts, winning the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. Naber would later serve as a flag bearer during the 1984 Olympic Games.
Formal induction will take place on Friday, March 11. To see who the full list of athlete being inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor class of 2022 and more information on the ceremony, go to Pac-12.com.
Two of the athletes being honored in this year’s class are winners of the AAU’s most prestigious award, the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. The Sullivan Award is presented to the top amateur athlete of the year. Jackie Joyner-Kersee and John Naber have both won the award and are now being honored by the Pac-12.
A multi-talented competitor in both women’s basketball and track and field, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is regarded as one of the greatest female athletes of all time. She led UCLA women’s track and field to national titles in 1982 and 1983, and still sits atop the UCLA record books in heptathlon and long jump. The first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the long jump and the first woman to compile more than 7,000 points in the seven-event heptathlon, Joyner-Kersee went on to win three golds, a silver and two bronze medals over four separate Olympics. In 1986, Joyner-Kersee was presented with the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. In 2013, the USA Track & Field’s Women’s Athlete of the Year award was renamed after Joyner-Kersee to recognize her amazing achievements.
The most decorated swimmer in USC history, John Naber captured 10 individual NCAA titles during his collegiate career, the second-most in collegiate history, while also leading the Trojans to four-straight NCAA team titles. On the international stage, Naber was the most decorated athlete for Team USA at the 1976 Olympics with four gold medals and one silver, setting four world records in the process. In 1977 he would be recognized for his efforts, winning the AAU James E. Sullivan Award. Naber would later serve as a flag bearer during the 1984 Olympic Games.
Formal induction will take place on Friday, March 11. To see who the full list of athlete being inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor class of 2022 and more information on the ceremony, go to Pac-12.com.
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