Dec. 4, 2003

COLUMBIA, S.C. –
South Carolina track and field signee Jason Richardson has been named the 2003 Verizon Youth Athlete of the Year by USA Track & Field. Richardson, who signed a national letter of intent with USC this fall, will be honored on Dec. 5 at the Jesse Owens Awards Dinner and Xerox Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held in conjunction with USATF’s 2003 Annual Meeting in Greensboro, N.C.

A senior at Cedar Hill High in Texas, Richardson won two gold medals at the 2003 IAAF World Youth Championships in Canada, becoming the first person in World Youth Championships history to win both the 110-meter hurdles (13.29 seconds) and the 400-meter hurdles (49.91). Both times were personal bests for the future Gamecock, who also swept the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles at the USATF Youth Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

Richardson, widely regarded as the nation’s top male high school track recruit for the 2004-05 class, chose South Carolina over Southern California and Texas.