Maggie MacNeil Named Best Female Athlete of Tokyo Olympics by ANOC
The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) have named Canadian swimmer Maggie MacNeil as the best female athlete at the Tokyo Olympics.
The announcement was made Saturday at the 25th ANOC General Assembly in Crete, Greece. The ANOC, which represents national Olympic committees across the world, first presented the awards in 2014. They recognize achievement at each Olympics with a slate of individual and team accolades.
“It is such a great honor to receive this award,” MacNeil said in an ANOC press release. “There are so many amazing athletes who competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. With all we have been through the last year and a half, this makes it even more special.”
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MacNeil delivered one of the swims of the Tokyo Olympics, winning the women’s 100 butterfly in 55.59 seconds. The time was an Americas record, the only one set by a woman in an individual event at the Games.
MacNeil was part of a resurgent Canadian women’s team. She swam a leg on Canada’s 400 freestyle relay that won silver, and she added a bronze medal in the 400 medley relay. The 21-year-old native of London, Ontario, is a senior at the University of Michigan and is exploring a fifth year of college swimming in 2022.
The ANOC also recognized Kenya marathon champ Eliud Kipchoge as the best male athlete; four-time Greco-Roman wrestling medalist Mijain Lopez of Cuba as the outstanding athlete performance; the Italian men’s cycling track pursuit team as the best male multiple athlete event; and the Estonian epee fencing team as the best female multiple athlete event. The New Zealand women’s rugby sevens team and the Japan baseball team won the best team awards.