COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The U.S. Olympic Committee announced swimmer Jessica Hardy and speedskater Shani Davis as the November Athletes of the Month for their record-breaking performances, while the two-man bobsled team of John Napier and Chuck Berkeley earned Team of the Month honors after winning gold at the Lake Placid World Cup.
More than 1,800 votes were cast by followers of the USOC’s Twitter site (@USOlympic). The Twitter vote accounts for 10 percent of the final tally, with a voting panel of U.S. Olympic family members comprising the remainder.
Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) was crowned the women’s 2009 FINA World Cup Champion on Nov. 22 at the final stop on the five-city circuit in Singapore. The 2007 World Champion finished the World Cup series with four World Record swims, all in the 50m. She also registered five other victories and several more top-three finishes on the circuit. At the finals, Hardy won gold in the 50m breast and silver in the 100m breast.
In the last three November World Cup events, Davis (Chicago, Ill.) has won four individual gold medals, breaking track records all over Europe. Winning every 1000m and 1500m event, the 2006 Olympian is prepared to bring home more Olympic gold. Additionally, the Olympic gold and silver medalist skated with Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) and Chad Hedrick (Spring, Texas) to tie for the gold medal in the team pursuit in Heerenveen, Netherlands, on Nov. 15.
Napier (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Berkeley (Clayton, Calif.) teamed up to win the gold medal in the two-man bobsled race at the World Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Nov. 21. With Napier as the pilot and Berkeley as the brakeman, the duo edged out teammate and 2009 World Champion Steven Holcomb for the win with a convincing lead of 0.26 seconds after sliding a combined time of 1:53.62.
Speedskater Katherine Reutter (Champaign, Ill.) and cyclist Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took second and third place in the voting for USOC Female Athlete of the Month. Reutter won a gold medal and two silver medals over two November World Cups in Marquette, Mich., and Montreal, Canada. Compton won her third UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup of the season in Nommay, France, on Nov. 8.
Figure skater Evan Lysacek (Naperville, Ill.) and wrestler Dremiel Byers (Newark, N.J.) came in second and third place for USOC Male Athlete of the Month for their medal-winning performances in November. Lysacek won the silver medal at the Cup of China in Beijing on Nov. 1 before taking home the gold at the 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Nov. 15. Byers won a gold medal at the New York Athletic Club International Greco-Roman Championships in New York, N.Y. on Nov. 15 and then captured gold at the Vantaa Cup in Vantaa, Finland on Nov. 21.
The ice dancing pair of Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) won the gold medal at the 2009 Grand Prix NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan, on Nov. 8 en route to placing second in the voting for USOC Team of the Month. Tying for the third most votes were doubles tennis team Bob and Mike Bryan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and USA Gymnastic’s Women’s World Tumbling Team. The Bryan brothers won the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London on Nov. 29 to clinch the year-end No. 1 doubles ranking for the fifth time in seven years. Kaitlin Tortorich (Haymarket, Va.), Leanne Seitzinger (Stafford, Va.) and Susannah Johnson (Roanoke, Va.) led Team USA to the silver medal at the 2009 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Nov. 13.
Results:
Women
1. Jessica Hardy, Swimming
2. Katherine Reutter, Speedskating
3. Katie Compton, Cycling
Men
1. Shani Davis, Speedskating
2. Evan Lysacek, Figure Skating
3. Dremiel Byers, Wrestling
Team
1. John Napier and Chuck Berkeley, Bobsled
2. Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Figure Skating
T3. Bob and Mike Bryan, Tennis
T3. U.S. Women’s World Tumbling Team, Gymnastics
For more information, please contact the USOC Communications Division at (719) 866-4529 or visit www.teamusa.org.