Speedskater Brittany Bowe, Alpine Skier Ted Ligety And U.S. Women’s Bobsled Team Earn U.S. Olympic Committee’s February Honors

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Notable performances during the month of February earned long track speedskater Brittany Bowe (Ocala, Florida) and freestyle skier Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) Athlete of the Month honors, while the U.S. women’s bobsled team received Team of the Month recognition, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.

Bowe made history in February by earning three of Team USA’s seven world championship medals at the ISU World Single Distance Championships, held Feb. 13-15 in Heerenveen, Netherlands. She captured two gold medals in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter, and added a silver medal in the 500. The world champion became the first American woman to earn the 1,500-meter title at the event.  

Ligety captured the men’s giant slalom gold medal at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships on Feb. 13 in Beaver Creek/Vail, Colorado. The victory marked his seventh career world championship medal, making him the most decorated U.S. alpine skier in world championship history.

Three members from the U.S. Women’s National Bobsled Team completed the 2014-15 FIBT World Cup circuit ranked in the top-six of the final standings. Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Georgia) claimed the overall title after earning her sixth win of the season on Feb. 14 in Sochi, Russia, while Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, New Jersey) and Jamie Greubel Poser (Newtown, Pennsylvania) ranked third and sixth. Two weeks later, Meyers Taylor and Cherrelle Garrett (Hayward, California) made history by becoming the first American women to win a bobsled world championship title at the FIBT World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, where all three U.S. teams finished in the top six.

In the female vote, Meyers Taylor finished runner-up and alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin (Vail, Colorado) took third. On the men’s ballot, sled hockey player Declan Farmer (Tampa, Florida) and long track speedskater Shani Davis (Chicago, Illinois) earned second and third place. The U.S. National Sled Hockey Team finished second, while ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates claimed 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. Brittany Bowe, Long Track Speedskating
2. Elana Meyers Taylor, Bobsled
3. Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine Skiing

MALE

1. Ted Ligety, Alpine Skiing
2. Declan Farmer, Sled Hockey
3. Shani Davis, Long Track Speedskating

TEAM

1. U.S. Women’s National Bobsled Team
2. U.S. National Sled Hockey Team
3. Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Ice Dancing