COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee today announced that standout performances from wrestler Jordan Burroughs (Sicklerville, New Jersey), gymnast Simone Biles (Spring, Texas) and the U.S. wheelchair rugby team earned them Best of August honors for Team USA Awards presented by Dow.
Biles won her sixth U.S. all-around title, becoming the first woman in nearly 70 years to win six senior U.S. all-around titles. She now ties Clara Schroth Lomady, who won the all-around from 1945-46 and 1949-52, for the record. At the national championships, Biles was also crowned the vault, balance beam and floor exercise champion and the uneven bars bronze medalist. Never one to settle, she continued to push the limits of the sport and made national headlines by performing two skills never before performed by a female gymnast in competition: a double-double dismount on the beam and a triple-double on the floor exercise.
Burroughs claimed his third straight Pan American Games title in August, winning the 74 kg. bracket in men’s freestyle. The American collected a perfect 3-0 record and defeated two past world medalists en route to his victory. In his first match, Burroughs defeated Abel Pastor of Peru, 10-0, before taking down four-time world medalist Geandry Garzon of Cuba with a dominant 15-4 performance in the semifinal match. In the final, Burroughs outlasted 2011 world silver medalist Franklin Gomez from Puerto Rico with a methodical 4-1 decision to earn his third Pan American gold medal. The feat came on the seven-year anniversary of Burroughs winning his Olympic title at the Olympic Games London 2012.
The U.S. wheelchair rugby team went undefeated at the Parapan American Games Lima 2019 to punch its ticket for the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. The team was dominant in the round robin games, earning five victories – including a 60-16 win over Chile and a 48-7 win over Argentina. The narrowest margin of victory came against Canada in the final round robin game, where Team USA edged out Canada for a 54-51 win. After defeating Colombia, 50-26, in the semifinals, the Americans once against faced Canada for the crown. Learning from the round robin game, Team USA earned a 58-47 victory to win the gold medal and earn its spot in Tokyo.
About the Team USA Awards
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.