With 31 total medals (14 golds, eight silvers, nine bronzes), Team USA led all nations in both gold medals and total medals to earn FINA's trophy as the top team at the 2013 FINA World Championships, held July 20-Aug. 4 in Barcelona, Spain. Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) captured a record six gold medals to become the most decorated female swimmer in world championships history. Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md.) collected four gold medals while setting two world records in the 800 and 1,500-meter freestyle events. Meanwhile, Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) led the men's 4x200 freestyle team to the top of the podium, winning three gold medals and one silver overall.
HENDRICKSON, FAIRALL CROWNED NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, Utah) and Nicholas Fairall (Andover, N.H.) captured the women's and men's titles at the 2013 U.S. Ski Jumping Championships, held Aug. 4 in Park City, Utah. With 222.1 points, Hendrickson took home her second national title. Jessica Jerome (Park City, Utah) placed second with 209.9 points, while Lindsey Van (Park City, Utah) rounded out the top three with a score of 174.5. On the men's side, Fairall tallied 260.6 points, while Nicholas Alexander (Lebanon, N.H.) and Chris Lamb (Andover, N.H.) finished second and third with 242.1 and 218.1 points.
ARCHERY
Brady Ellison (Glendale, Ariz.) took home the silver medal in men's recurve at the 2013 World Games, held July 25-Aug. 4 in Cali, Colombia. After defeating Austria's Heribert Dornhofer, 62-51, in the semifinals, Ellison lost to Jean- Charles Valladont of France, 62-60, in the gold-medal match.
BOBSLED/SKELETON
Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.) claimed her second consecutive title in a time of 10.931 at the 2013 USA Bobsled National Push Championships, held Aug. 1-3 in Calgary, Alberta. On the men's side, Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah) unseated four- time champion Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) in a track record time of 9.971. Meanwhile, Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) and Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) successfully defended their pilot push titles in 10.888 and 10.347.
BOWLING
The U.S. won its first gold medal in World Games history after the team of Kelly Kulick (Union, N.J.) and Michael Fagan (Fort Worth, Texas) defeated Canada, 905-871, in mixed doubles at the 2013 World Games, held July 25-Aug. 4 in Cali, Colombia. Kulick continued her success by clinching the silver medal in women's singles, while Fagan placed fifth in men's singles.
CANOE/KAYAK
Nine U.S. boats earned top-20 finishes at the 2013 ICF Junior/U-23 Sprint World Championships, held Aug. 1-4 in Welland, Ontario. Makenzie Sousley (Gig Harbor, Wash.) and Savannah Jones (Gig Harbor, Wash.) finished fourth in the women's C2 500-meter in 2:12.430. On the men's side, Ian Ross (Bethesda, Md.) placed eighth in the U-23 C1 1,000 in 4:07.022, while Ryan Dolan (Kailua, Hawaii) earned an 11th-place finish with a time of 25.817 in the U-23 K1 200.
CYCLING
Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.) and Aaron Gwin (Wildomar, Calif.) clinched the women's and men's pro downhill title in 6:06.208 and 5:14.017 at the 2013 Gravity Mountain Bike National Championships, held Aug. 2-4 in Angel Fire, N.M.
EQUESTRIAN
The U.S. jumping team garnered a second-place finish at the 2013 CSIO5* Hickstead FEI Nations Cup, held Aug. 1-4 in Hickstead, England. In the second round, McLain Ward (Brewster, N.Y.) and Beezie Madden (Cazenovia, N.Y.) were both faultless aboard Rothchild and Cortes 'C.'
ROLLER SPORTS
The U.S. defeated Italy, 3-2, to collect the gold medal in men's inline hockey at the 2013 World Games, held July 25-Aug. 4 in Cali, Colombia. The U.S. notched a 6-0 record that also included wins over Colombia, Switzerland, Latvia and the Czech Republic.
Josiah Bishop (Ashland, Va.) and Kayla Rodriguez (Delanco, N.J.) were crowned men's and women's singles champions at the 2013 Figure Skating National Championships, held July 21-Aug. 4 in Albuquerque, N.M. Jessica Gaudy (Melbourne, Fla.) and Anthony Deluca (Laurel, Md.) won the ice dancing title, while Eliza Postlethwait (Elyria, Ohio) and Rex Smith (Elyria, Ohio) claimed the pairs title.
ROWING
Michelle Sechser (Folsom, Calif.) posted the fastest heat time in the lightweight women's single sculls in 7:58.283 at the 2013 Senior World Championship Trials, held Aug. 4-7 in West Windsor, N.J. On the men's side, Stephen Whelpey (Mequon, Wis.) posted the fastest heat time in 7:07.901.
RUGBY
The U.S. went 2-0 to open the 2013 Women's Nations Cup, held July 30-Aug. 4 in Greeley, Colo. Team USA clinched a 35-22 victory over South Africa in its opening match and defeated Canada, 29-17, to remain the only unbeaten team in the tournament. The U.S. will face England on Wednesday (Aug. 7).
SHOOTING
Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Dustin Perry (Lovelady, Texas) secured titles in women's and men's skeet at the 2013 USA Shooting Shotgun National Championships, held July 25-Aug. 3 in Fort Carson, Colo. In men's double trap, Josh Richmond (Hillsgrove, Pa.) captured the gold medal with a 2-1 win against Jeff Holguin (Yorba Linda, Calif.).
SQUASH
Chris Gordon (New York, N.Y.) and Julian Illingworth (New York, N.Y.) both advanced to the second round of the 2013 World Games, held July 25-Aug. 4 in Cali, Colombia. Gordon bested Japan's Ryosei Kobayashi in his opening match before losing to Peter Barker of England. After a first-round bye, Illingworth lost to Ryan Cuskelly of Australia in the second round.
Sabrina Sobhy (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) and Olivia Blatchford (Brooklyn, N.Y.) were named to the U.S. Women's National Team at the 2013 U.S. Women's National Team playoff, held July 31-Aug. 2 in Stamford, Conn. Sobhy finished with a 3-0 record while Blatchford went 2-1.
SWIMMING
Sarah Denninghoff (Tucson, Ariz.) was crowned champion of the 100-meter backstroke and 200 backstroke with times of 1:00.04 and 2:09.14 at the 2013 U.S. Open, held July 30-Aug. 3 in Irvine, Calif. Gillan Ryan (Kutztown, Pa.) claimed victories in the 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle, clocking in at 4:07.87 and 8:25.57. On the men's side, Scott Weltz (San Jose, Calif.) set a meet record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:10.36, while Tom Shields (Huntington Beach, Calif.) swam the 100 butterfly in a meet record time of 51.65.
TENNIS
Raquel Kops-Jones (San Jose, Calif.) and Abigail Spears (San Diego, Calif.) defeated Hao Ching Chan of Chinese Tapei and Janette Husarova of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-1, to capture the women's doubles title at the 2013 Emirates Airline US Open Series Southern California Open, held July 29-Aug. 4 in Carlsbad, Calif. In women's singles, Coco Vandeweghe (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) advanced to the second round before losing to Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, 7-6(5), 6-3.
John Isner (Tampa, Fla.) finished second at the 2013 Emirates Airline US Open Series Citi Open, held July 27-Aug.4 in Washington, D.C. Isner bested Dmitry Turnsunov, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals before losing to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, in the final. Taylor Townsend (Chicago, Ill.) advanced to the women's doubles final with partner Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, where the duo lost to Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Vera Dushevina of Russia, 6-3, 6-3. In men's doubles, Mardy Fish (Los Angeles, Calif.) and partner Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic advanced to the final, where the pair lost to France's Julien Benneteau and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic, 7-6(5), 7-5.
VOLLEYBALL
The U.S. Girls' Youth National Team became the first U.S. volleyball team at the youth or junior level to garner a world championship medal by securing the silver medal at the 2013 FIVB Girls' U18 World Championship, held July 26-Aug. 4 in Nakhom Ratchasima, Thailand. The U.S. lost to China in the gold-medal match and finished with a 6-2 record that included wins over Poland, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Chinese Tapei.
The U.S. women's indoor team posted a 2-1 record to open play at the 2013 FIVB Grand Prix, held Aug. 2-18 in Campinas, Brazil. The U.S. topped Russia in its opening match and followed with a victory over Poland off Kim Hill's (Portland, Ore.) game-high 16 points. The U.S. lost to Brazil on the final day of pool A play and will face Algeria on Friday (Aug. 9).
WATER POLO
The U.S. women placed fifth at the 2013 FINA World Championships, held July 20- Aug. 4 in Barcelona, Spain. After losing to Spain, 9-6, the U.S. earned a 12-11 victory over the Netherlands and concluded its campaign by topping Greece, 12-11, in a fifth-place game shootout.
WRESTLING
Victoria Anthony (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Veronica Carlson (Addison, Ill.) and Alli Ragan (Carbondale, Ill.) clinched spots to compete at the 2013 World Championships with wins at the 2013 Women's World Team Wrestle-Off, held Aug. 2-3 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Anthony defeated three higher-seeded opponents before sweeping Jessica Medina (Pomona, Calif.) in the 51 kg. final. Meanwhile, Carlson defeated Jackie Cataline (Corona, Calif.) at 67 kg., while Ragan defeated Erin Clodgo (Marquette, Mich.) in the 59 kg. final.
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