Two world-class athletes with Montgomery County roots were named this week as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s sportswoman and sportsman of the year.
Bethesda’s Katie Ledecky took home the sportswoman of the year award for her continued dominance of international swimming.
This year, Ledecky won six medals, including five golds, at the FINA World Championships. The 20-year-old’s latest medals helped her set the women’s record for most career world championship gold medals with 14 overall.
The Stone Ridge School graduate also has five Olympic gold medals and is widely considered to be the most dominant female swimmer in the world.
Kyle Snyder, an alumnus of Good Counsel High School in Olney who is from Woodbine, defeated two-time world champion Russian wrestler Abdulrashid Sadulaev in the 97-kilogram weight class at the World Championships in Russia this year. The match continued the 22-year-old’s three-year winning streak in international competitions that included gold medals in the 2016 Olympics and 2015 World Championships in his weight class.
Synder’s efforts also helped Team USA claim its first men’s freestyle wrestling world team title in 22 years at the 2017 championships.
The U.S. Olympic Committee honored Snyder, Ledecky and other award winners on Wednesday during the Team USA Awards show in Los Angeles, a recording of which will be broadcast from 5 to 6 p.m. Dec. 23 on NBC.