Holloway and Richardson received their prizes at the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Convention in Orlando.

Reigning 110 metres hurdles world champion Holloway enjoyed a dominant year at collegiate level.

The 22-year-old won four National Collegiate Athletic Association titles - three individual and one relay - and became the first collegian to go under the 13.00sec mark in the 110m hurdles.

Holloway also broke the American record and the collegiate record in the 60m hurdles indoors.

His crowning achievement of the year came at the International Association of Athletics Federations World championships in Doha, where he clocked 13.10 to win his first outdoor senior world title.

Holloway was chosen for The Bowerman, inamed after former University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, ahead of a field which included the likes of Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and Nigerian sprinter Divine Oduduru.

Richardson was also in record-breaking form throughout 2019 and became the first freshman in conference history to win the 100m, 200m and run a leg of the winning 4x100m relay at the SEC (Southeastern Conference) Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The 19-year-old is in the top 10 of the all-time fastest 100m ran by women after clocking 10.75 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

She beat off competition from Jamaican sprinter Janeek Brown and French triple jumper Yanis David to win the award.

Past winners of The Bowerman have included two-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time World Champion and decathlon world-record holder Ashton Eaton in 2010, two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp in 2009, Olympic gold medalist and 100m hurdles world champion Brianna Rollins in 2013 and Olympic bronze medalist and world 1500m champion Jenny Simpson in 2009.