Lindsey Vonn has been selected the Hickok Belt™ Award winner for March 2012, making her the first female athlete to ever win the award. The Olympic gold medalist and American alpine ski racer won the overall title at the World Cup skiing finals in Schladming, Austria. Vonn won the super-G, downhill and super combined events on the way to winning her fourth overall World Cup title in the last five years. In addition, Vonn finished the season with a new women’s record point total of 1,980.
Voting was conducted by a select national panel of members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA). Other Hickok Belt Award finalists for the month of March in order of how the NSSA voters ranked them included: Kevin Love (basketball), Rory McIlory (golf), Tiger Woods (golf), Kevin Durant (basketball), Dallas Seavey (dog sled racing), Brian Elliott (hockey), Roger Federer (tennis), Marian Gaborik (hockey), and Luke Donald (golf).
Lindsey Vonn’s selection as the Hickok Belt Award winner for March, not only recognizes her as “the best of the best” in professional sports for the month, it also marks yet another milestone in the return of the awards given to the top professional athlete across all sports. As a monthly recipient, Vonn becomes the third of 12 finalists for the overall annual award, joining February winner Jeremy Lin (basketball), and January winner Eli Manning (football). Winners as selected by the NSSA will be announced each month throughout 2012. The overall winner will then be announced in early 2013, as the Hickok Belt Award, the crown jewel of sports, will be presented for the first time in over 36 years.
