The United States Olympic Committee has announced its 2016 National Coaches of the Year award winners.
Geno Auriemma and Aimee Boorman shared the honor as National Olympic Coach of the Year, while Adam Bleakney was recognized as National Paralympic Coach of the Year.
Last year Auriemma led the US Olympic women’s basketball team to its sixth straight, and eighth overall, gold medal at Rio 2016, extending their winning streak to 49 matches.
Scoring more than 100 points in six of its eight games, the American squad decimated their rest of the field and won their matches by an average of 37.2 points per game.
It was the second gold medal Auriemma has led the Americans to after he also coached the London 2012 team.
Boorman, meanwhile, served as the Rio 2016 head coach for the women’s artistic gymnastics team and as personal coach to four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles.
Under Boorman’s direction, the Rio 2016 squad became the first to defend its gold medal in the team competition and the first team to win back-to-back Olympic golds since Romania did so at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
Boorman also guided Biles in becoming the most decorated American gymnast in history with 19 career World Championship and Olympic medals.
At Rio 2016, Biles became the first American gymnast to win four gold medals at a single Games.
Bleakney was honored after he further established himself as one of this best wheelchair racing coaches in the world.
He led the US women to a podium sweep in the 1500 and 5,000 meter events and guided 12 athletes in winning 15 medals at Rio 2016, including Tatyana McFadden, Chelsea McClammer, Amanda McGrory and Ray Martin.
Under his tutelage, McFadden continued to dominate the wheelchair marathon scene, winning four major marathons in 2016 for the fourth consecutive year.
Gymnastics’ Kim Zmeskal-Burdette was also honored as Developmental Coach of the Year, while Tom Miller was named Volunteer Coach of the Year for his speed skating work.
Derek Davis completed the winners after winning the Doc Councilman Science Award.
His technological advances have greatly altered performance tracking in archery.
Davis’ use of high-speed, 360-degree cameras offer athletes and coaches a more “efficient perspective and comprehensive understanding of performance patterns in practice that can be applied to competition”.
Editor’s Note: Geno Auriemma won the United States Sports Academy’s 2015 Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award.
By Max Winters
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.