NEW YORK: Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky have both earned Athlete of the Year honors for the third consecutive year at the USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards.
Phelps won six medals this summer, including five gold, and took the male Athlete of the Year award for the seventh time overall. Phelps also won Race of the Year on Monday for his 200-meter butterfly win at the Rio Olympics and Relay Performance of the Year for the 4x100 freestyle in Rio. He was also the fifth recipient of USA Swimming’s IMPACT Award, a lifetime achievement honor for contributions to the sport.
Ledecky won female Athlete of the Year for a record fourth consecutive year. Ledecky won four golds at Rio, joining Debbie Meyer as the only women to win the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events at the same Olympics.
Simone Manuel won female Race of the Year for her gold in the 100 freestyle in Rio, when she set an American and Olympic record at 52.70 seconds.
Also, Phelps has taken another step to put an official seal on his retirement.
ESPN and NBC Sports report Phelps told reporters Monday ahead of USA Swimming’s Golden Goggle awards that he has removed himself from USA Swimming’s drug testing program. Phelps ended his previous retirement after the 2012 Games by rejoining the same program.
Phelps later reiterated his retirement on stage Monday, saying, “I’m done competitive swimming, but I’m never too far away from the pool.”
Phelps also touched on his secret June wedding to Nicole Johnson. Phelps says he and Johnson married in a “small little ceremony” in order to make it easier for them to travel to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics with their infant son, Boomer. They had a more formal ceremony last month in Mexico.
Phelps won six medals this summer, including five gold, and took the male Athlete of the Year award for the seventh time overall. Phelps also won Race of the Year on Monday for his 200-meter butterfly win at the Rio Olympics and Relay Performance of the Year for the 4x100 freestyle in Rio. He was also the fifth recipient of USA Swimming’s IMPACT Award, a lifetime achievement honor for contributions to the sport.
Ledecky won female Athlete of the Year for a record fourth consecutive year. Ledecky won four golds at Rio, joining Debbie Meyer as the only women to win the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events at the same Olympics.
Simone Manuel won female Race of the Year for her gold in the 100 freestyle in Rio, when she set an American and Olympic record at 52.70 seconds.
Also, Phelps has taken another step to put an official seal on his retirement.
ESPN and NBC Sports report Phelps told reporters Monday ahead of USA Swimming’s Golden Goggle awards that he has removed himself from USA Swimming’s drug testing program. Phelps ended his previous retirement after the 2012 Games by rejoining the same program.
Phelps later reiterated his retirement on stage Monday, saying, “I’m done competitive swimming, but I’m never too far away from the pool.”
Phelps also touched on his secret June wedding to Nicole Johnson. Phelps says he and Johnson married in a “small little ceremony” in order to make it easier for them to travel to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics with their infant son, Boomer. They had a more formal ceremony last month in Mexico.
