(L-R) Paralympic track & field athlete Tatyana McFadden, alpine skier Ted Ligety, beach volleyball team Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Top performances throughout October earned Paralympic track & field athlete Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.) and alpine skier Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) Athlete of the Month recognition, while the beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh Jennings (Saratoga, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) received Team of the Month honors, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.
McFadden clinched the women’s wheelchair division in a course-record time of 1:42:35 at the 2013 Chicago Marathon. It was McFadden’s third consecutive victory in Chicago. With the win, she became the first racer to complete the marathon triple crown of Boston, London and Chicago in a single season.
Ligety opened the world cup season by capturing a first-place finish in men’s giant slalom by .79 of a second at the FIS Alpine World Cup in Soelden, Austria. With the historic 18th win of his career, Ligety became the first racer to earn three consecutive victories in the 20-year history of the Soelden FIS World Cup. The win also marked his sixth straight podium in Soelden.
Walsh Jennings and Ross won two consecutive FIVB Grand Slam events in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Xiamen, China. In Xiamen, Walsh Jennings and Ross defeated world No. 1 Taiana Lima and Talita Rocha of Brazil in the final. With the win, Walsh Jennings set the all-time record for tournament victories by a women’s beach volleyball player with 113.
Gymnastics standout Simone Biles (Spring, Texas) and modern pentathlete Margaux Isaksen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned second and third place in the female vote. On the men’s side, long track speedskater Shani Davis (Chicago, Ill.) finished runner-up, while judo’s Travis Stevens (Tacoma, Wash.) claimed third. The U.S. men’s recurve archery team finished second in the team competition, while the Americas Championship wheelchair rugby team rounded out the voting in third.
Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline. A voting panel selects the winners from the pool of nominees with online fan voting via Twitter accounting for 10 percent of the total vote.
FEMALE
1. Tatyana McFadden, Paralympic Track & Field
2. Simone Biles, Gymnastics
3. Margaux Isaksen, Modern Pentathlon
MALE
1. Ted Ligety, Alpine Skiing
2. Shani Davis, Speedskating
3. Travis Stevens, Judo
TEAM
1. Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, Beach Volleyball
2. U.S. Men's Recurve Team, Archery
3. Americas Championship Team, Wheelchair Rugby
