The New York Athletic Club is a proud recipient of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque, a location-based recognition awarded for outstanding contributions to the worldwide history and development of track and field.
The award marks the start of a four-year heritage agreement between the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) and the NYAC. Central to this cooperation is exploring the potential of both organizations’ historic collections of track and field memorabilia to promote the sport.
The plaque is displayed proudly in the Hall of Fame of the City House, the NYAC’s midtown Manhattan location, where it serves as a constant reminder to members and guests of the New York Athletic Club’s distinguished history in the sport of track and field - known simply as “athletics” outside of the United States - that continues to this day.
Click here to visit the Museum of World Athletics and learn more about this prestigious award.
Click here to go directly to the announcement of the NYAC as a Heritage Plaque recipient.
About the World Athletics Heritage Plaque
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque initiative, first announced in 2018, is a location-based recognition which highlights, celebrates and links together iconic and historic athletics competitions, careers, performances, cities, venues, landmarks and culture around the world. A uniquely designed plaque is permanently and publicly displayed at a location closely associated with each recipient.
Design
The main oval of the design represents the “global” sport of athletics, while the gold color of that ring represents “excellence.” The six bright modern colors surrounding the main gold oval stand for the “universality” and diversity of athletics. This is represented by the six continental areas and the six core event groups: sprints, hurdles and relays; middle/long distance; combined events; jumping; throwing; “out of stadia” (cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking).
Selection
There are five broad overlapping categories in which the Plaque can be awarded: City, Competition, Legend, Landmark and Culture. The NYAC was awarded a plaque in the category of Competition.
Since December 2018, more than 90 plaques have so far been awarded worldwide across the six continental areas of World Athletics. These include athlete & coaching legends, competitions, stadiums, athletics publications, museums and more.
Rather than installing plaques outside of every existing Olympic stadium, the plaques are intended to highlight lesser-known locations associated with outstanding athletics history.
Mission
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque’s mission is to educate local communities and visitors about the international athletics history in their area, and, in turn, to honor and savor the extraordinarily entertaining and diverse history of athletics.
