19 Sep 2012

Phelps and Felix named USOC's athletes of the year

11:34 am on 19 September 2012

Swimmer Michael Phelps and sprinter Allyson Felix have been named as the United States Olympic Committee's best athletes for the last year for their gold medal performances at the London Olympics.

Phelps won the male athlete of the year award for the third time after the swimmer captured four gold medals in London to finish his career with an unprecedented tally of 18 golds, twice as many as the next best from any Olympic sport.

Felix won the women's award after winning gold in the 200 metres sprint and the 4 by 100 and 4 by 400m metre relays on the running track.

The women's rowing eight crew won the team award while swimmer Jessica Long and wheelchair racer Raymond Martin won the top individual paralympic awards and the men's quad doubles wheelchair tennis pairing won the paralympic team award.