Wrestler Kyle Snyder joined a long list of Olympic champions to earn the Sullivan Award, which has honored the nation’s outstanding amateur athlete since 1930.
Past honorees include Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Eric Heiden.
Snyder, the youngest American to win an Olympic and a world wrestling title, beat a group of finalists that also included Olympic figure skating bronze medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani.
The other finalists were Angela Peavy (equestrian), Annika Albrecht (volleyball), Kelly Hunter (volleyball), Joel Berry II (basketball) and Erin Finn (track and field).
Snyder, a finalist last year, became the fourth wrestler to take the award after fellow Olympic champions John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner and Rulon Gardner.
In the last year, Snyder won his third straight global title at August’s world championships in a final showdown with Russian Abdulrashid Sadulayev and three-peated as NCAA champion in March. The 22-year-old then turned professional en route to what he hopes is his second Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
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Olympians/Paralympians to win Sullivan Award since 2000
2018: Kyle Snyder (Wrestling)
2016: Breanna Stewart (Basketball, shared award)
2013: Missy Franklin (Swimming)
2011: Evan Lysacek (Figure Skating)
2009: Shawn Johnson (Gymnastics)
2007: Jessica Long (Swimming, Paralympics)
2005: Paul Hamm (Gymnastics)
2004: Michael Phelps (Swimming)
2003: Sarah Hughes (Figure Skating)
2002: Michelle Kwan (Figure Skating)
2001: Rulon Gardner (Wrestling)