Press
NCSG - Athlete of the Year
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
UTAH CYCLIST, NEW MEXICO MARTIAL ARTIST RECEIVE NATIONAL STATE GAMES ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Just two months removed from a serious stroke and against physician’s orders, 65-year-old cyclist Alice Pust pedaled her way to four gold medals and national prominence in the recent Utah Summer Games.
Pust, who resides in Santaquin, Utah, and 49 year-old Judo artist Lorenzo Schipp of Albuquerque, N.M., have been named the National Congress of State Games 2007 Female and Male Athlete of the Year.
The athletes received their awards from the National Congress of State Games during ceremonies in Lincoln, Nebraska, on September 27 during the NCSG Symposium.
“My doctor said I was done cycling for the year, but a few days after the stroke, I was biking again…Cycling is my lifeline,” Pust said about her remarkable comeback.
Pust earned Utah Summer Games gold medals in the time trial, criterium, road race and omnium events held June 21-23 near Salt Lake City. To the national selection committee, it mattered little that she raced unopposed in all four events.
“Alice is the epitome of a state games athlete. She competes for the sheer joy and camaraderie of the competition. There could be no better representative of the spirit of the state games movement,” Selection Committee Chairman Jeff Scully said.
Schipp has won more than 30 medals in the New Mexico Games since 1990 and has earned two age-group World Championship medals in Judo since 2005. The German immigrant took his familiar place on the podium at the 2007 New Mexico Games on June 9, winning the male heavyweight division. His current world rank is #5 Dan Black Belt.
“I think it is great for the sport of Judo. With mixed martial artists making lots of money these days, this is good recognition for a sport that focuses on amateurs and on self discipline,” Schipp remarked.
Pust and Schipp were selected from among nominees submitted by 30 member states. An estimated 400,000 athletes take part in state games competitions annually.
