(L-R) Triathlete Gwen Jorgensen, members of the women's senior national water polo team and gymnast Eddie Penev earn United States Olympic Committee Athlete and Team of the Month honors.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Top performances throughout June earned Gwen Jorgensen (St. Paul, Minnesota) and Eddie Penev (Penfield, New York) Athlete of the Month recognition, while the U.S. Women’s Senior National Water Polo Team received Team of the Month honors, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.
Jorgensen became the first woman from any country to claim six titles in the history of the ITU World Triathlon Series after her victory on June 28 at the inaugural ITU World Triathlon Chicago. With the victory, Jorgensen earned her second consecutive national elite title and retained her No. 1 world ranking.
Penev earned two gold medals at the 2014 World Challenge Cup, held May 29-June 1 in Anadia, Portugal. Penev won the floor exercise and vault events with scores of 15.225 and 15.625 to overcome an experienced international field.
The U.S. women's senior national team won the gold medal at the FINA World League Super Final, held June 10-14 in Kunshan, China, marking the team’s eighth gold medal in 11 appearances. Team USA went undefeated after opening tournament play with an 11-10 victory over Russia and continued to defeat every opponent by at least two goals or more.
Swimmer Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Maryland) finished runner-up and water polo athlete Maggie Steffens (Danville, California) claimed third in the female vote. On the men’s side, swimmer Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Illinois) and basketball player Stanley Johnson (Fullerton, California) earned second and third place. The U.S. Women’s National Rowing Team finished second, while the U.S. Men’s National U18 Basketball Team finished third in the team category.
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. Gwen Jorgensen, Triathlon
2. Katie Ledecky, Swimming
3. Maggie Steffens, Water Polo
MALE
1. Eddie Penev, Gymnastics
2. Conor Dwyer, Swimming
3. Stanley Johnson, Basketball
TEAM
1. U.S. women’s senior national team, Water Polo
2. U.S. women’s national team, Rowing
3. U.S. men’s national U18 team, Basketball
