Lindsey Vonn (L), Chris Mazdzer (R) and the luge relay team (C) earned Best of December honors for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Outstanding performances during the month of December earned alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, luge athlete Chris Mazdzer and the U.S. luge relay team Best of December accolades for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.
Vonn (Vail, Colorado) improved her career total to 71 world cup titles after claiming four consecutive gold medals in world cup competition with victories in three different events. Winning three races in three days, Vonn claimed two downhills and one super-G title in Lake Louise, Alberta, and added her first giant slalom win in nearly three years, claiming gold in Are, Sweden.
Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, New York) claimed three world cup gold medals and one silver medal in a month that saw both his first ever individual title and USA Luge’s first ever team relay title. Mazdzer’s four-medal haul helped the U.S. break its single season total of world cup medals, exceeding the previous mark of 13.
The U.S. luge relay team, comprised of Erin Hamlin (Remsen, New York), Chris Mazdzer and the doubles team of Justin Krewson (Eastport, New York) and Andrew Sherk (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania), defeated Latvia by .871 of a second to claim its first ever team relay gold medal at the FIL World Cup in Lake Placid, New York. The win capped an historic six-medal weekend for U.S. luge athletes.
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 Coca-Cola, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Kellogg’s, Samsung and USG.
