Best of 2011...according to you

The 2011 year in Olympic sports was hardly short on award-worthy performances. There were world records in the pool, sizzling times run on the track, world championships won, World Cups dominated, and more.

We have our own thoughts on which performers were the best of the year were. We will share those with you in the coming days. But we also wanted to get your opinions on who you think the Male Athlete, Female Athlete and Team of the Year were.

You had your say, now it is time for your voices to be heard. (Drum roll please...)

With 49 percent of the most vigorously voted upon category, your choice for Male Athlete of the Year was American swimmer Ryan Lochte, he of the five victories in five tries at the World Championships, a world record in the 200m individual medley, not to mention all of the ridiculous shoes and Elmo hats.

It must be noted that gymnast Danell Leyva put up a valiant fight, but the early vote leader was unable to vault past Lochte and finished second with 41 percent of the vote.

In the Team of the Year competition, figure skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White iced the competition, finishing with 45 percent of the vote. The pair, who became the first American duo to win an ice dancing world championship, led the voting from wire to wire and easily trumped the Brazilian beach volleyball tandem of Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, both in selection and margin of victory, came in the Female Athlete of the Year category. Your overwhelming choice was Paralympian Amanda McGrory, who garnered a whopping 63 percent of the vote, more than three-times the total earned by runner-up Jordyn Wieber, the world champion gymnast and early vote leader in the competition.

For those who might be unfamiliar with McGrory's season, it was remarkable. At the International Paralympic Committee World Championships, she won gold medals in the 800m and 5000m, bronze in the marathon and finished 6th in the 1500m. The 25-year-old went on to win the Utica Boilermaker 15-K, the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon, the Paris Marathon, the Virgin London Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon. Her victory in New York came in a course-record 1 hour, 50 minutes, 24 seconds.

In a year that also saw Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius cross over and compete in the 400m and 4x400m at the track & field World Championships in Daegu, it McGrory's victory here could be viewed as another win for Paralympic athletes striving for mainstream recognition.

Below are the results of the fan voting. Thanks for looking back on 2011 with us!