A pair of figure skaters were voted the United States Sports Academy’s Athletes of the Month after their performances at the world figure skating championships in Stockholm, Sweden in March. American Nathan Chen and Russia’s Anna Shcherbakova won the honors after winning world titles at the event.
Chen captured his third consecutive world figure skating title at the event and has won 13 titles in the last three seasons. He is the first U.S. man since 1984 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton to win three consecutive world titles. Chen is the two-time reigning United States Sports Academy Male Athlete of the Year.
Shcherbakova won the women’s overall world figure skating title at the event after landing seven clean triple jumps in her free skate performance to seal the win with a total score of 233.17.
The second place finisher on the men’s side was Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar and third place went to Nigerian soccer player Kelechi Iheanacho
Pogačar won the Tirreno-Adriatico, an elite cycle race held over seven stages in Italy, by more than a full minute after a strong time trial on 16 March 2021. Pogačar claimed the general classification title with a combined race time of 26:36:17.
The Leicester City forward Iheanacho was named the Premier League Player of the Month for March 2021 after scoring five goals in three games during the month. The Nigerian recorded a hat trick – three goals – in a win over Sheffield United and scored goals against Burnley and Brighton & Hove Albion.
The second place finisher on the women’s side was American snowboarder Chloe Kim and third place went to American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins.
Kim won gold at the U.S. Grand Prix in Colorado on 21 March 2021 and captured the overall title after a remarkable season. Earlier in March, Kim successfully defended her 2019 world championship. She has not lost in FIS competition since January 2018.
Diggins became the first American woman to the overall World Cup title in cross-country skiing. The title capped a remarkable season for Diggins, who previously became the first American – male or female – to win the prestigious Tour de Ski.
Each month, the public is invited to participate in the Academy’s worldwide Athlete of the Month program by nominating athletes and then voting online during the first week of every month. The online votes are used to guide the Academy selection committee in choosing the male and female monthly winners, who then become eligible for selection to the prestigious Athlete of the Year ballot. A worldwide public vote on the annual ballot is used to guide the committee in making the final selection.
And to think that at the start of the season everyone was saying Anna is gonna lose this season because of her Covid pneumonia. She nearly collapsed from decreased lung capacity at the first competition, but still won that and all the ones after. That’s what perseverance looks like!