American sprinter Fred Kerley and British tennis player Emma Raducanu are the United States Sports Academy’s Athletes of the Month after their achievements on the world stage in the month of September.

Kerley became the first man to win Diamond League 100, 200, and 400 races after posting a time of 9.94 in the 100 meters on 3 September 2021. Kerley held off American compatriots Trayvon Bromell and Michael Norman in the race.

Raducanu became the first-ever qualifier to win a tennis Grand Slam title after she defeated Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 at the U.S. Open in New York on 11 September 2021. Raducanu is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977.

The second place finisher on the men’s side was Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev and third place went to American baseball player Tyler O’Neill.

Medvedev defeated world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to capture his first major crown at the U.S. Open in New York on 12 September 2021. Medvedev is just the second Russian man to win the U.S. Open after Marat Safin in 2000.

O’Neill earned National League Player of the Month honors after hitting .328 with an NL leading 13 home runs, 30 RBIs, and 31 runs scored as his St. Louis Cardinals won 17 consecutive games in September and clinched an NL Wild Card berth.

The second place finisher on the women’s side was American soccer star Carli Lloyd and third place went to American discus thrower Valarie Allman.

Lloyd scored five goals to lead the United States Women’s National Team to a 9-0 win against Paraguay in Cleveland on 16 September 2021. Lloyd tied the team’s single-match scoring record and moved into third place all-time for the team with 133 goals behind legends Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach.

Allman won gold and set an American record in the women’s discus throw in Berlin on 12 September 2021. Allman’s throw of 71.16 meters (233 feet, 5 inches) set the American women’s record and placed among the top 10 throws in Team USA history.

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.