(L-R) Summer Britcher, the luge team relay and Nathan Chen earned Best of January honors for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Standout performances during January earned figure skater Nathan Chen (Salt Lake City, Utah), luger Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pennsylvania) and the luge team relay foursome Best of January honors for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.
Nathan Chen won his second consecutive U.S. title in San Jose, defeating the field by more than 40 points. Chen scored more than 100 points in his short program and exceeded 210 points in his free skate, hitting five quads, including two in combination. His victory capped a perfect grand prix tour where he was crowned the overall champion. Chen will represent the United States for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 next month.
Two-time Olympian Summer Britcher became the all-time singles victory leader in USA Luge history. In Lillehammer, Norway, Britcher captured the traditional two-heat singles race for her fourth career win, and then backed it up with her fifth title 24 hours later in the one-heat sprint race. She also raced the lead leg of the team relay that took silver in Koenigssee, Germany. In all, the 23-year-old collected three medals in January, finishing third in the overall world cup standings.
The U.S. luge team relay foursome of singles racers Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pennsylvania) and Tucker West (Ridgefield, Connecticut), together with the doubles team of Matt Mortensen (Huntington Station, New York) and Jayson Terdiman (Berwick, Pennsylvania), captured a world cup silver medal in Koenigssee, Germany. Their silver-medal performance marked their first medal on the world cup tour. All four athletes will represent Team USA in their second Games next month.
In addition to Dow, the presenting sponsor, the Team USA Awards are supported by DICK’S Sporting Goods and USG. The monthly awards will resume in April following the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games.
About the Team USA Awards
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.
