Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin set world records in their events at the World Athletics Championships in July and were named the United States Sports Academy’s Athletes of the Month.
Duplantis set a world record in the pole vault with a height of 6.21 meters in the event at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., on 24 July 2022. It was the first world championship title for Duplantis, the reigning Olympic champion in pole vault.
McLaughlin broke her own world record with a time of 50.68 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., on 22 July 2022. McLaughlin has now lowered the record four times since June 2021.
The second place finisher on the men’s side was American sprinter Noah Lyles and third place went to baseball star Aaron Judge.
Lyles defended his 200-meter world title with a dominant 19.31 second finish in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., on 21 July 2022. Lyles’ time made him the third fastest man ever in the event, surpassing Michael Johnson’s 26-year-old U.S. record by a hundredth of a second.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge earned American League Player of the Month honors after posting a .333 batting average with 25 runs, 31 hits, five doubles, 13 home runs, 32 RBIs, 17 walks and five stolen bases in 25 games in July.
The second place finisher on the women’s side was American BMX rider Felicia Stancil and third place went to Canadian golfer Brooke Henderson.
Stancil earned gold in the elite women’s race at the International Cycling Union (UCI) BMX Racing World Championships in France on 31 July 2022. Stancil won with a time of 33.144 seconds, just 0.010 seconds ahead of rival Zoe Claessens of Switzerland.
Henderson shot a 17-under par 267 to win the Evian Championship and captured her second career major in France on 24 July 2022. Henderson birdied on the final hole to seal the win and avoid a playoff with American Sophia Schubert.
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.
The Athlete of the Year Award is part of the United States Sports Academy’s Awards of Sport program, which each year serves as “A Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete.” The Academy presents the awards to pay tribute to those who have made significant contributions to sport, in categories as diverse as the artist and the athlete in several different arenas of sport.
The awards honor exemplary achievement in coaching, all-around athletic performance, courage, humanitarian activity, fitness and media, among others. The Academy’s American Sport Art Museum and Archives (ASAMA) annually recognizes these men and women through its Sport Artist of the Year, Honorary Doctorates, Distinguished Service Awards, Outstanding Athletes, and Alumni of the Year awards. This is the 37th year of the Academy’s Awards of Sport program.
The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.
Founded in 1984, ASAMA is dedicated to the preservation of sports art, history, and literature. The ASAMA collection is composed of more than 1,800 works of sport art across a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, assemblages, prints and photographs. The museum is open free to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. For more information, go to www.asama.org.
The Academy is based in Daphne, Ala. For more information, call (251) 626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu.
