Alpine Skiers Julia Mancuso, Bode Miller, USA I Bobsled Team honored by U.S. Olympic Committee for Outstanding Performances in February

USOC March 15, 2010

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) announced alpine skiers Julia Mancuso and Bode Miller as its February Athletes of the Month, while the USA I Bobsled Team was awarded Team of the Month honors.

After not making the World Cup podium in two seasons, Mancuso (Park City, Utah) won two Olympic silver medals at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in the super combined and downhill. The three-time Olympian finished 0.56 seconds behind winner and teammate Lindsey Vonn in the downhill, and in the super combined, finished 0.94 seconds behind gold medalist Germany's Maria Riesch of Germany.

Miller (Franconia, N.H.) won three Olympic medals in the Vancouver Games including bronze in the downhill, silver in the super-G, and gold in the super combined. The four-time Olympian has become the all-time winningest male in U.S. alpine skiing history. With three medals in Vancouver, Miller becomes the 12th alpine skier to win three medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. His five total Olympic medals moves him to second on the all-time alpine skiing medal list among men behind Norway's Khetil Andre Aamodt with eight medals.

The Night Train (USA I) bobsled team was welcomed to the finish by train whistles and chants as the U.S. crew added Olympic champion to their World Championship and World Cup titles. Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and his crew of Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), Steve Mesler (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) made history after winning Olympic gold in four-man bobsled at the Whistler Sliding Center on Feb. 27. The team earned the USA's first gold medal in four-man bobsled since 1948.

Each National Governing Body may nominate up to but no more than one female, one male and one team per discipline. The winners are then selected from that pool of nominees.

Competing in her fourth Olympic Winter Games as the oldest member of Team USA, Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) took second place in the Female Athlete of the Month voting. Potter led the team to the silver medal with six goals and five points in just five games. Her 11 points tied for a new U.S. record and was fourth-best overall at the Games, landing her a spot on the Media All-Star Team. She logged consecutive three-goal games, making her the first woman ever to do so in a single Olympic Winter Games. Her Feb. 14 hat trick was the first in her Olympic career and marked only the fifth hat trick in U.S. Olympic history. Her two first-period goals in that game, scored 3:39 apart, were the fastest two goals scored by an individual in U.S. Olympic history.

Finishing third was Katherine Reutter (Champaign, Ill.) who made her Olympic debut skating four events in short track speedskating, winning her first individual Olympic medal, silver in the ladies 1000 meter event. Reutter became the first U.S. woman to medal in short track since 1994. Reutter also led the ladies team to a bronze-medal finish in the 3000 meter relay.

Reigning World Champion Evan Lysacek (Naperville, Ill.) came in second in the Male Athlete of the Month voting. Lysacek took home gold from Vancouver, becoming the sixth U.S. man to claim the top spot at the Olympic Winter Games. Sitting in second following the short program, Lysacek trailed Russia's Evgeny Plushenko, the 2006 Olympic champion, approximately a half point. Lysacek won the free skate with a score of 167.37, pushing him 1.31 points ahead of Plushenko to win the gold, and thus ending the gold medal streak the Russian men had held since 1992.

Short track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, Wash.) took third in the men's vote. Ohno became the most decorated U.S. winter Olympian after bringing home three Olympic medals from Vancouver. With a total of eight Olympic medals, he broke the record set by long track speedskater Bonnie Blair who earned six Olympic medals during her career. In Vancouver, Ohno earned a silver medal in the 1500 meter, a bronze in the 1000 meter and a bronze in the 5000 meter relay.

Placing second in the team voting was the USA Nordic Combined Ski Team. The U.S. team of Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Billy Demong (Vermontville, N.Y.), and Brett Camerota (Park City, Utah), won a historic silver medal in the relay. Spillane and Demong also won independent medals throughout the Games. Spillane won two silvers, ending the wait for the U.S. winning the first Olympic medal since 1924 while Billy Demong won the first gold and the relay team won the first Olympic medal in U.S. history for Nordic Combined.

Coming in third place was the USA Men's Ice Hockey Team, which captured the silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, marking just the second Olympic medal for the Americans since 1980. Team USA came one goal shy of the gold medal, after taking Canada to overtime in the title game. The U.S. entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed, and then went undefeated in the preliminary round to take the top seed heading into the playoff round. There, Team USA downed Finland 6-1 to advance to the championship game. Overall, the Americans outscored opponents 24-9 and owned a 5-0-1-0 record (wins-overtime wins-overtime losses-loss).

Results:

Women: