Serena Williams (L), Roderick Townsend (R) and the U.S. Women's Senior National Water Polo Team (C) earned Best of June honors for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Exceptional performances during the month of June earned Serena Williams (tennis), Roderick Townsend (Paralympic track and field), and the U.S. Women’s National Water Polo Team Best of June honors for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.
Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) won her 20th Grand Slam singles title and 67th career Women’s Tennis Association singles title at the French Open, held May 17-June 7 in Paris. After trailing by one set in four of her matches, she came back to win all six matches and advance to the final, improving to 32-1 in 2015 and 12-0 in three-setters. With the title, she became just the third player in tennis history – male or female – to win 20 Grand Slam singles titles and the first athlete since 2001 to win both the Australian Open and French Open in the same year.
Roderick Townsend (Stockton, California) posted a world record in his U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championships debut on June 20 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He won the men’s T12/42-47 high jump, improving the previous T46 world record by .02 meters, and also claimed national titles in the men’s T45-47 100-meter and T42-47 long jump.
The U.S. Women’s National Water Polo Team capped the month of June with a 10-0 record, highlighted by wins at the Kunshan Cup, held June 3-6 in Kunshan, China, and the FINA World League Super Final, held June 9-14 in Shanghai. The win marked Team USA’s ninth gold medal in women’s Super Final history – the most by any nation – and solidified its spot atop the world rankings, a post the team has held since 2014.
Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline. An internal nominating committee selects five nominees from both the male and female categories, and three from the team category to advance to the voting round. Votes received from NGB representatives and select members of the media account for 50 percent of the final tally, with the other half determined by online fan voting via TeamUSA.org/Awards.
In addition to Dow, the presenting sponsor, the Team USA Awards are supported by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Kellogg’s, Samsung and USG.
