COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Dec. 7, 2015 – Three-time World all-around champion Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, won the women’s Best of November honors for the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, the United States Olympic Committee announced today. The other November honorees are speedskater Joey Mantia and the sibling ice dancing pair of Maia and Alex Shibutani.
Biles became the first woman to win 10 career world championship gold medals – and four golds at consecutive world championships– with a historic third straight world all-around title at the FIG World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Claiming five medals overall, she became the first U.S. gymnast – male or female – to garner 14 career world medals.
Mantia (Ocala, Florida) earned back-to-back podium finishes, claiming silver and bronze medals in the men’s 1,500-meter and adding a team silver medal in the sprint in ISU World Cup competitions in Calgary, Alberta, and Salt Lake City. Through two ISU World Cup events, Mantia ranks fifth overall – the top U.S. male – and second in the 1,500.
Maia and Alex Shibutani (Ann Arbor, Michigan) won the ice dancing gold medal at the 2015 NHK Trophy with a score of 174.43 points, marking their first grand prix series title since 2011. Coupled with the silver medal they earned at Skate Canada, the pair sealed its third career berth to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline. An internal nominating committee selects five nominees from both the male and female categories, and three from the team category to advance to the voting round. Votes received from NGB representatives and select members of the media account for 50 percent of the final tally, with the other half determined by online fan voting via TeamUSA.org/Awards.
In addition to Dow, the presenting sponsor, the Team USA Awards are supported by Coca-Cola, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Kellogg’s, Samsung and USG.