Reviving an award won by the likes of Mark Talbott, Demer Holleran, and Marty Clark for the first time in thirteen years, the US Squash National Teams Committee nominated F. Gilpin “Gilly” Lane for the 2013 United States Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year Award for the most outstanding performance by a Team USA player in international competition. Each year, the forty-four National Governing Bodies nominate athletes from their sport to be considered for the USOC Athlete of the Year award.
Lane, twenty-eight, was forced to retire early in 2011 due to injury reaching a career-high world ranking of forty-eight. Despite injuries and not playing professionally, Lane remained in the national team fold competing in the 2011 Men’s World Team Championship as a part of the best-ever U.S. National Team finish of sixth in the world.
In March 2013, a resurgent Lane reached the finals of the SL Green U.S. Men’s Squash Championship, upsetting eight-time winner Julian Illingworth in the semifinals.
June’s 2013 Men’s World Team Championship saw Lane back in action for the U.S. as he recorded five wins and only one loss, including a win against Mexico’s world No. 41 Cesar Salazar. In the following month, Lane’s alma mater, The University of Pennsylvania, announced that Lane would be joining their program as the Assistant Coach.
In September, Lane led the U.S. Men’s side as a player-coach in the Pan-American Federation Cup where he reached the semifinals of the individual competition with four victories, losing to eventual champion and world No. 14 Miguel Angel Rodriguez.
Lane is the first squash nominee for the USOC Athlete of the Year since it was awarded to Michelle Quibell and Damian Walker in 2001.
