Soccer player Christine Sinclair named Canada’s top athlete of 2012

Christine Sinclair has been named Canada’s top athlete of 2012. (Stanley Chou, Getty Images)

Soccer player Christine Sinclair has won the 2012 Lou Marsh Award, given annually to the Canadian athlete of the year, according to the Toronto Star. Sinclair enjoyed a banner year as a striker for the Canadian national soccer team, who enjoyed a strong run to the Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics behind Sinclair’s tournament-leading six goals.

However, it is the manner in which three of those goals came that pushed Sinclair into wider recognition, both in her country and in the United States. Sinclair played a starring role in Canada’s epic 4-3 loss to the United States in the Olympic semifinal, scoring all three of her country’s goals. The contest is widely considered to be one of the most engrossing soccer games of the year at any level, men’s or women’s.

Sinclair is the first soccer player to win the award in its 76 year history. Past winners include the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, and Steve Nash. Sinclair has already been named Canada’s Soccer Player of The Year nine times and has been nominated for FIFA’s Wolrd Player of The Year six times. Sinclair is currently without a club.