(Reuters) – Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, and alpine skiing great Lindsey Vonn headlined the United States Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame Class of 2022 that was announced on Monday.
Among the 12 individuals being inducted are Natalie Coughlin (swimming), Mia Hamm (soccer), Michelle Kwan (figure skating), the late Pat Summitt (coach: basketball) and former tennis great Billie Jean King who will go in as a special contributor.
Phelps, the only male swimmer to compete on five Olympic teams, owns a record 28 Olympic medals, including 23 golds, eight of which he captured in Beijing in 2008.
Vonn has three Olympic medals to her name, and is the only American woman to ever capture downhill gold at the Olympic Winter Games. She is also second on all-time internationally with a career total of 82 world cup victories.
The 1976 Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay swimming team and 2002 Paralympic sled hockey team also earned induction as did Paralympic athletes Muffy Davis (skiing and cycling), David Kiley (alpine skiing, athletics, and basketball) and Trischa Zorn-Hudson (swimming).
A “legends” category will also see the late Gretchen Fraser (alpine skiing) and Roger Kingdom (athletics) inducted.
The Class of 2022 will be inducted during a June 24 ceremony in Colorado Springs.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
