Jozy Altidore's record-setting year with the US men's national team will have a fitting conclusion, as U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday that the striker has been named the 2013 Male Athlete of the Year. Joining him in the year-end awards is longtime US women's national team standout Abby Wambach, who was named 2013 Female Athlete of the Year.
It is the first time the 24-year-old Altidore has won the honor, and it comes after he scored eight goals for the USMNT in 2013, including three game-winners in World Cup qualifying matches and a USMNT record five-game scoring streak that lasted from June 2 to Aug. 14.
Altidore, who had previously won the Young Male Athlete of the Year award, finished the year with 21 goals in 66 total USMNT caps. He parlayed his fine form from the US and Dutch club AZ Alkmaar – where he scored 31 goals across all competitions in the 2012-13 season – into a move to Sunderland, where he has yet to find the net in league play for the struggling EPL side.
The honor is nothing new for Wambach, who collected her sixth Athlete of the Year honor and surpassed US soccer legend Mia Hamm – who has five – in the process. Wambach, who netted 11 international goals and six assists this year, also surpassed Hamm in the record books in 2013, breaking her all-time international scoring record of 158 on June 20 and finishing the year with 163 goals in 212 career appearances for the USWNT.
In the youth categories, Columbus Crew and US Under-20 national team midfielder Wil Trapp was honored as the 2013 Young Male Athlete of the Year. Trapp was instrumental in the US' qualification for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting all five games in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship and being named to the tournament Best XI. Trapp started 15 times for the Crew in his rookie season after signing a Homegrown contract.
Lindsey Horan – the first American woman to forgo college and sign a pro contract, with France's Paris Saint-German – took home Young Female Athlete of the Year honors. She scored two goals in four matches for the US Under-20 women's national team this year and made her debut for the senior national team at the Algarve Cup in March.
