Paul Ruggeri and Julie Zetlin have been nominated for the USOC’s December Male and Female Athletes of the Month. Fans have until Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. ET to vote. Click on the links above to vote for both of these gymnasts.
2010 U.S. horizontal bar silver-medalist Paul Ruggeri (Manlius, N.Y.) won the United States’ only two medals at the 2010 Toyota Cup in Aichi, Japan. Ruggeri won the bronze medal on horizontal bar and floor exercise. Ruggeri, who competes for the University of Illinois and was the alternate for the 2010 U.S. Men’s World Championships Team, earned the bronze medal on high bar with a score of 15.750 behind World all-around champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan, who claimed the silver medal with a 15.875. He also won the bronze medal on floor with a score of 15.175, where Uchimura won the floor title.
2010 U.S. rhythmic champion Julie Zetlin (Bethesda, Md.) won three medals at the 2010 Pan American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, taking top honors in the all-around and rope event finals. Zetlin also led the United States to the team silver and helped qualify the United States for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara in rhythmic gymnastics. Zetlin, who trains at Capital Rhythmics, posted a total score of 98.600 to win the all-around title. She earned the top scores on hoop (24.825), ball (24.575) and ribbon (25.150), as well as the third highest mark for rope (24.050). She also earned a 24.200 for her rope routine to edge Mexico’s Rut Castillo for the rope title.