Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl and Canadian bobsledder Alysia Rissling are the United States Sports Academy’s Athletes of the Month after online voters worldwide recognized their achievements on the world stage in the month of November.
Draisaitl led the NHL with 15 goals, 27 points, and four game-winning goals as the Oilers raced to a 15-5 overall record through the month of November. Draisitl recorded at least one point in 10 of his 13 games and recorded at least three points in six games. He earned the NHL’s First Star award for the month.
Rissling won her fifth monobob gold in five starts during competition in Park City, Utah, on 24 November 2021. The women’s monobob is a new discipline featuring an individual bobsled that will debut at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The second place finisher on the men’s side was Michigan Wolverines running back Hassan Haskins and third place went to Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez.
Haskins earned Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors after rushing for 169 yards and a school single-game record five touchdowns as the Wolverines defeated rival Ohio State 42-27 on 27 November 2021 in Ann Arbor. The win catapulted the Wolverines (11-1) into the Big Ten Conference championship game.
Alvarez defeated American Caleb Plant by eleventh round TKO and exited the ring as boxing’s undisputed middleweight champion – holding all four title belts in the weight class. Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 TKOs) is just the sixth fighter to unify all belts in one division in the four-belt era.
The second place finisher on the women’s side was American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and third place went to American speedskater Erin Jackson.
Shiffrin won gold in the slalom at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup event in Killington, Vt., on 28 November 2021. It was Shiffrin’s 71st overall win and 46th career slalom gold, tying the record held by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark – a record for any Alpine skier, male or female, in an individual discipline.
Jackson won her third gold of the season with a win in the women’s 500 meters event on the International Skating Union Speed Skating World Cup circuit in Norway on 20 November 2021. Jackson finished with a time of 37.60 seconds to win her third event in three tries this season.
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.
