The Track & Field News Athlete of the Year award is given to track and field athletes by Track & Field News magazine, an American sports magazine. A panel of international track and field experts organized by the magazine selects the winners. The award has been given to men since 1959 and women since 1974.

Rafer Lewis Johnson was an American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. He was the USA team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.