Paratriathlete Melissa Stockwell Honored As USOC's October Athlete Of The Month

The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) honored paratriathlete Melissa Stockwell as its female Athlete of the Month for October following a gold-medal performance at the 2012 ITU Paratriathlon World Championships last month.

See the announcement from USA Triathlon below:

A 2008 Paralympian in swimming and an Iraq War veteran, Stockwell (Chicago, Ill.) won her third consecutive ITU Paratriathlon World Championships title in the TRI-2 category Oct. 22 in Auckland, New Zealand. Stockwell won in convincing fashion, finishing more than four minutes clear of her closest competitor and covering the course in 1 hour, 22 minutes, 14 seconds. Also a two-time national champion, Stockwell is one of only two paratriathletes with a current streak of three straight world titles.

Additionally, Stockwell is one of five finalists for the International Paralympic Committee Athlete of the Month for October. To vote for Stockwell for this international honor, visit Paralympic.org and look for the poll on the right side of the page. Voting closes Friday.

Alpine skier Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) claimed male USOC Athlete of the Month accolades, while the men’s doubles tennis team of Bob Bryan (Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.) and Mike Bryan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) received USOC Team of the Month honors.

Each National Governing Body may nominate one female, one male and one team per discipline for USOC monthly honors. A voting panel selects the winners from the pool of nominees with online fan voting via Twitter accounting for 10 percent of the total vote.

U.S. Olympic Committee October Athletes and Team of the Month:  

Female
1. Melissa Stockwell, Paratriathlon
2. Gracia Leydon Mahoney, Diving
3. Ashley Wagner, Figure Skating

Male
1. Ted Ligety, Alpine Skiing
2. Dathan Ritzenhein, Track & Field
3. Max Nowry, Wrestling

Team
1. Bob and Mike Bryan, Tennis
2. Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Figure Skating
3. Rob Jones and Oksana Masters, Para-rowing