Track stars Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay honored by USOC for outstanding performances in August

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Olympic Committee announced track & field athletes Allyson Felix and Tyson Gay as the August Athletes of the Month, while the U.S. women's pairs rowing team of Erin Cafaro and Susan Francia was awarded Team of the Month honors.

Nearly 2,500 votes were cast by followers of the USOC's Twitter site (@USOlympic). The Twitter votes account for ten percent of the final tally, with a voting panel of U.S. Olympic family members comprising the remainder.

Felix (Santa Clarita, Calif.) became the first woman to win three gold medals in a sprint event at the world track championships Aug. 21 when she claimed the title in the 200m at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany. She crossed the finish line in 22.02 seconds, ahead of two-time Olympic 200m gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica. Felix also took part in the gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team that won in 3:17.83, which is the fastest time in the world this year and the fastest time globally since 1993.

Gay (Clermont, Fla.) broke his own American record in the 100m when he crossed the finish line in 9.71 seconds for the silver medal, finishing behind Usain Bolt of Jamaica. Although Bolt broke his own world record to win the historic duel between sprinters, Gay's reaction time was slightly better than his rival (0.144 to 0.146). Gay's previous American record was set at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Ore. when he finished in 9.77 seconds.

The women's pair of Erin Cafaro (Berkely, Calif.) and Susan Francia (Princeton, N.J.) became to first in U.S. history to win the gold medal at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. The 2008 Olympic gold medalists came from behind in the final 500 meters to defeat Romania by 0.36 seconds to claim the title Aug. 29. One day later, the duo won another gold medal as part of the women's eight, becoming the first female rowers in U.S. history to win two world titles at the same world championships.

Cafaro also placed second in the voting for August Female Athlete of the Month for her work in two gold medal winning teams at the World Rowing Championships. Swimmer Jessica Hardy (Long Beach, Calif.) and gymnast Bridget Sloan (Pittsboro, Ind.) tied for third place with their gold medal performances at national events. Hardy won two gold medals and broke the world record in the 50m breast (29.95 seconds) at the U.S. Open, held Aug. 4-8 in Federal Way, Wash. A member of the 2008 Olympic silver medal team, Sloan won her first U.S. all-around title Aug. 15 at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas.

Swimming legend Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) placed second for August Male Athlete of the Month for his performance during the final two days of the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy. Phelps earned gold medals and broke world records in the 100m fly Aug. 1 and the 400m medley relay Aug. 2 to take home the FINA high point award for the championships. Olympic high bar silver-medalist Jonathan Horton (Houston, Texas) finished third in the voting after winning the U.S. all-around title Aug. 14 at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas.

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics pair George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Rick Peters (Venice, Calif.) earned the second most votes for August Team of the Month after claiming the World Championship title Aug. 8 at the 2009 Star Class World Championships in Varberg, Sweden. Placing third in the voting this month, the women's U19 basketball team took gold at the FIBA U19 World Championships, Aug. 2, in Bangkok, Thailand.

Results:

Women
1. Allyson Felix, Track & Field
2. Erin Cafaro, Rowing
T3. Jessica Hardy, Swimming
T3. Bridget Sloan, Gymnastics

Men
1. Tyson Gay, Track & Field
2. Michael Phelps, Swimming
3. Jonathan Horton, Gymnastics

Team
1. Erin Cafaro and Susan Francia, Rowing
2. George Szabo and Rick Peters, Sailing
3. Women's U19 World Championship Team, Basketball

For more information, please contact the USOC Communications Division at (719) 866-4529.

Tags: Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay