Associated Press names Aaron Judge, Katie Ledecky as its athletes of the year

The Associated Press Friday announced New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky, as their athletes of 2022. It's Judge's first time being picked for the honor, while it was Ledecky's second time being chosen. 

The AP cited Judge's 62 home runs this past season, an American League record, as the reason he was selected by a panel of 40 writers and editors from news outlets in the U.S. That record had stood for six decades. 

It also cited Ledecky's performance at the FINA World Championships, in which she set multiple world records, as the reason why she was chosen.