1997 WORLD FREESTYLE WRESTLING CHAMPION LES GUTCHES NAMED USOC MALE ATHLETE OF THE MONTH FOR AUGUST 
   1997 World Champion Les Gutches (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) has been named Male Athlete of the Month for August by the United States Olympic Committee.  
   Gutches won the gold medal in the 187.25-pound division at the World Freestyle Championships, which was held August 28-31 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. He posted the best U.S. performance in his first appearance at the meet. 
   He scored 26 points in the voting, narrowly topping swimmer Neil Walker, who had 24 points. Walker had four first place votes, and Gutches has three. (Winners are determined by total points for first, second and third-place ballots combined). Rounding out the top five were Dee Wilde of Archery, Blaine Wilson of Gymnastics and Scott Shipley of Canoe and Kayak. 
   Gutches defeated Eldar Assanov of Ukraine in a 1-1 overtime referee's decision in the final match after stopping 1996 Olympic Champion Hajimurad Magomedov of Russia 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals. Gutches finished the tournament with a 5-0 record. 
   Gutches finished seventh in the 180.5-pound weight class in 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. A two-time U.S. Nationals champion, Gutches won two NCAA titles for Oregon State, and is originally from Central Point, Ore. 
   Walker had an impressive performance at the Pan Pacific Championships. He won the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly in a lightning-quick 52.76, breaking Pablo Morales' 11-year-old American mark of 52.84. He also anchored two gold medal-winning relay squads. 
   Three-time relay gold medalist Jenny Thompson, a swimmer, was named the USOC Female Athlete of the Month. Thompson earned eight of the 10 first-place votes to easily win the women's honor.  
   She dominated the Pan Pacific Championships, held August 10-13 in Fukuoka, Japan.  She defeated world record holder Jingyi Le and set a meet record of 54.82 in the 100-meter freestyle. Thompson also set the meet record in the 100-meter butterfly (59.00) and anchored the winning 400-meter medley, 400-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle relay teams. She added a runner-up finish in the 50-meter freestyle and now owns 18 gold and five silver medals from five Pan Pacific competitions since 1989. 
  USOC ATHLETE OF THE MONTH RESULTS FOR AUGUST 1997 
  (First place votes in parentheses) 
  Men 
   1. Les Gutches, Wrestling, 26 pts. (3); 2. Neil Walker, Swimming, 24 pts. (4); 3. Dee Wilde, Archery, 15 pts. (2); 4. Blaine Wilson, Gymnastics, 13 pts. (1); 5. Scott Shipley, Canoe and Kayak, 9 pts. 
  Women 
   1. Jenny Thompson, Swimming, 44 pts. (8); 2. Lisa Fernandez, Softball 15 (2); 3. Nykesha Sales, Basketball, 15 pts.; 4. Vanessa Atler, Gymnastics, 8 pts.; 5. Missy Grove, Cycling, 3 pts. and 6. Jamie Van Natta, Archery, 3 pts.