COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team has been named the U.S. Olympic Committee's Team of the Month for March, thanks to its gold-medal performance at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) is one of five nominees for the International Paralympic Committee's Best Male Athlete of March. Public voting is taking place at Paralympic.org through Wednesday (April 9). Farmer shared the Team USA lead in both goals (3) and points (5) at the Paralympics. He tallied two goals and an assist in the 3-0 semifinal win against Canada. In his Paralympic debut, the 16 year old notched a goal and an assist versus Italy.
Team USA received "Team of the Paralympic Games" honors at the U.S. Olympic Committee Best of U.S. Awards Show Wednesday (April 2) at Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. The inaugural event honored outstanding U.S. performances from the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The U.S. became the first nation to win back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in sled hockey by defeating Russia, 1-0, in the gold-medal game March 15. Josh Sweeney (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored the game-winning goal and Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) made six saves. Overall, the U.S. posted preliminary round wins over Italy (5-1) and South Korea (3-0), plus a semifinal triumph against Canada (3-0). Team USA avenged its only loss, a 2-1 setback versus Russia in the preliminary round, by topping the host country in the gold medal rematch.
Yesterday (Thursday, April 3), Team USA visited the White House to take part in a celebration of 2014 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes, hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.