COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Top performances throughout February earned alpine skiers Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo.) and Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) Athlete of the Month recognition, while the ice dancing team of Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) received Team of the Month honors, the United States Olympic Committee announced today.
At age 18, Shiffrin became the youngest Olympic gold medalist in women’s slalom history with a victory at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 21. She finished 0.53 of a second ahead of the field to give her the first U.S. slalom victory since Phil Mahre in 1984 and the first women’s slalom victory since Barbara Cochran in 1972.
Ligety became the first American male to win the Olympic gold medal in giant slalom at the Sochi Games on Feb. 18. Leading the field by 0.93 of a second after his first run, he claimed the gold medal by 0.48 of a second. With the historic win, he became only the second U.S. alpine skier to win two Olympic gold medals after Andrea Mead Lawrence accomplished the feat in 1952. Prior to the Games, he also won the final world cup giant slalom race of the season by a massive 1.51 second margin on Feb. 2 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Meryl Davis and Charlie White captured Team USA’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in ice dance at the Sochi Games on Feb. 17. The pair earned a world record total score of 195.52. The duo also aided the U.S. to the bronze medal in the first-ever Olympic figure skating team event. They are now tied for the most Olympic medals in U.S. figure skating history with three apiece.
Freestyle skier Maddie Bowman (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) finished runner-up and snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington (Sun Valley, Idaho) claimed third in the female vote. On the men’s side, snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg (Park City, Utah) and freestyle skier Joss Christensen (Park City, Utah) earned second and third place. The USA-1 men’s bobsled team finished second in the team category, while the U.S. biathlon women’s relay rounded out the voting in third.
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.
FEMALE
1. Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine Skiing
2. Maddie Bowman, Freestyle Skiing
3. Kaitlyn Farrington, Snowboarding
MALE
1. Ted Ligety, Alpine Skiing
2. Sage Kotsenburg, Snowboarding
3. Joss Christensen, Freestyle Skiing
TEAM
1. Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Figure Skating
2. USA-1 Men’s Team, Bobsled
3. U.S. Women’s Relay, Biathlon
For more updates from the United States Olympic Committee, visit USOC.org.
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