INDIANAPOLIS - LaShawn Merritt has been named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after winning three gold medals at the 2004 IAAF World Junior Championships held last week in Grosseto, Italy.

On Thursday, the East Carolina University-bound Merritt won the men's 400 meters in 45.25 seconds. He then came back on Sunday to run the anchor leg on Team USA's gold medal-winning 4x100 relay squad and the second leg of the victorious 4x400 relay.

In the 4x100 relay, the winning time of 38.66 seconds set a world junior record to better the time of 38.92 set in 2002 by Team USA. In the 4x400 relay, the winning time of 3:01.09 set a world junior record to better the time of 3:01.90 set in 1990 by Team USA.

Last month the 17-year-old Merritt won both the 200 meter (20.72) and 400 meter (46.80) national titles at the 2004 USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in College Station, Texas, where he was named the Verizon Male Athlete of the Meet.

At last week's Olympic Trials held in Sacramento, American record performances took place in the steeplechase, triple jump and 400 meters. Ann Gaffigan set an American record in the women's steeplechase with her time of 9:39.35 and Tiombe Hurd set an American record in the women's triple jump with her leap of 14.45m/47-5. Sanya Richards added an American junior record in the 400m with a time of 49.89 seconds.

Now in its fourth year, USATF's Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.