US football fans, media and officials named
US men's national team goalkeeper Tim Howard and US women's national team
midfielder Carli Lloyd as the 2008 athletes of the year, according to a
statement released Thursday, dpa reported.
The awards were the first ever for the two athletes, US Soccer said.
Howard is goalkeeper for English Premier League club Everton FC and the US national team.
Lloyd started all six games at the Beijing Olympics in August.
Online votes by fans counted for 50 per cent of the score. The rest came from
media and officials of US Soccer.