In Brief : 12 Medalists Vie for Owens Award

All 12 finalists for the 1989 Jesse Owens International Trophy Award are gold medalists from the Winter and Summer Olympics, including Americans Matt Biondi and Florence Griffith Joyner.

Biondi won seven medals, five gold, in swimming at the Seoul Games, and Griffith Joyner won three track and field golds and one silver.

The others are Steffi Graf of West Germany, tennis; Vladimir Artemov, Soviet Union, gymnastics; Jackie Joyner-Kersee, United States, track and field; Carl Lewis, United States, track and field; Greg Lougaanis, United States, diving; John Ngugi, Kenya, track and field; Kristin Otto, East Germany, swimming; Alberto Tomba, Italy, skiing; Katarina Witt, East Germany, figure skating, and Xu Yanmei, China, diving.

The award is presented annually to the athlete who “best personifies excellence in athletic performance and promotes sincere cooperation and understanding among peoples of all nations.” The winner is selected by a worldwide panel of voters.

The award was founded in 1980 by 1948 long jump bronze medalist Herbert P. Douglas Jr.