Best Female Athlete ESPY Award
Awarded forBest Female Athlete
LocationLos Angeles (2017)[1]
Presented byESPN
First awarded2000
Currently held byMikaela Shiffrin (United States)
Websitewww.espn.co.uk/espys/

The Best Female Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Outstanding Female Athlete ESPY Award, has been presented annually at the ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) since 1993 to the female voted to be, irrespective of nationality or sport contested, the best athlete in a given calendar year. Between 1993 and 2004, the award voting panel comprised variously of fans; sportswriters and broadcasters, sports executives, and retired sportspersons, termed collectively experts; and ESPN personalities, but balloting thereafter has been exclusively by fans over the Internet from amongst choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in June and reflect performance from the June previous.[2]

Five athletes, American soccer player Mia Hamm, Swedish golfer Annika Sörenstam, American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, American tennis player Serena Williams, and American mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey have won the award twice. Hamm was honored in 1998 and 2000, Sörenstam in 2005 and 2006, Vonn in 2010 and 2011, Williams in 2003 and 2013, and Rousey in 2014 and 2015. Sörenstam, Osaka, and Monica Seles are the only honorees not to represent the United States at the time of their win. Of the winners, six have played basketball, the most of any sport; the other sports with multiple individuals awarded are tennis, gymnastics, soccer, and swimming. The award wasn't given in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

List of winners

Year Image Athlete Nation represented Sport Ref(s)
1993 Monica Seles in 1991 Monica Seles  Yugoslavia Tennis [3]
1994 Julie Krone in 2003 Julie Krone  United States Thoroughbred horse racing [4]
1995 Bonnie Blair in 2010 Bonnie Blair  United States Speed skating [5]
1996 Rebecca Lobo in 2010 Rebecca Lobo  United States Basketball [6]
1997 Amy Van Dyken in 2017 Amy Van Dyken  United States Swimming [7]
1998 Mia Hamm in 1995 Mia Hamm  United States Soccer [8]
1999 Chamique Holdsclaw in 2016 Chamique Holdsclaw  United States Basketball [9]
2000 Mia Hamm in 2006 Mia Hamm (2)  United States Soccer [10]
2001 Marion Jones in 2000 Marion Jones  United States Track and field [11]
2002 Venus Williams in 2006 Venus Williams  United States Tennis [12]
2003 Serena Williams  United States Tennis [13]
2004 Diana Taurasi in 2007 Diana Taurasi  United States Basketball [14]
2005 Annika Sorenstam in 2006 Annika Sörenstam  Sweden Golf [15]
2006 Annika Sorenstam in 2008 Annika Sörenstam (2)  Sweden Golf [15]
2007 Taryne Mowatt attending a Red Carpet event in 2008 Taryne Mowatt  United States Softball [16]
2008 Candace Parker in 2012 Candace Parker  United States Basketball [17]
2009 Nastia Liukin in 2009 Nastia Liukin  United States Gymnastics [18]
2010 Lindsey Vonn in 2010 Lindsey Vonn  United States Alpine skiing [19]
2011 Lindsery Vonn in 2011 Lindsey Vonn (2)  United States Alpine skiing [20]
2012 Brittney Griner in 2015 Brittney Griner  United States Basketball [21]
2013 Serena Williams in 2013 Serena Williams (2)  United States Tennis [22]
2014 Ronda Rousey in 2012 Ronda Rousey  United States Mixed martial arts [23]
2015 Ronda Rousey in 2012 Ronda Rousey (2)  United States Mixed martial arts [24]
2016 Breanna Stewart in 2017 Breanna Stewart  United States Basketball [25]
2017 Simone Biles in 2016 Simone Biles  United States Gymnastics [1]
2018 Chloe Kim  United States Snowboarding [26]
2019 Alex Morgan  United States Soccer [27]
2020 Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Naomi Osaka  Japan Tennis [28]
2022 Katie Ledecky  United States Swimming [29]
2023 Mikaela Shiffrin  United States Alpine skiing [30]

Statistics

Winners by sport contested
Sport contested Winners (awards) Winners (individuals)
Basketball 6 6
Tennis 5 4
Association football 3 2
Gymnastics 2 2
Swimming 2 2
Alpine skiing 3 2
Golf 2 1
Mixed martial arts 2 1
Track and field 1 1
Softball 1 1
Speed skating 1 1
Thoroughbred horse racing 1 1
Snowboarding 1 1
Winners by nation represented
Nation Winners (awards) Winners (individuals)
 United States 26 22
 Sweden 2 1
 Yugoslavia 1 1
 Japan 1 1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Felt, Hunter (13 July 2017). "ESPY Awards 2017: Simone Biles and Russell Westbrook win Best Athletes – as it happened". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  2. ^ Because of the rescheduling of the ESPY Awards ceremony, the award presented in 2002 was given in consideration of performance betwixt February 2001 and June 2002.
  3. ^ Bodenheimer, George (28 May 2015). Every Town Is a Sports Town: Business Leadership at ESPN, from the Mailroom to the Boardroom. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1455586097. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  4. ^ Boyer Sagert, Kelly; Overman, Steven J. (13 February 2012). Icons of Women's Sport. Greenwood Press. p. 335. ISBN 978-0313385483. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Young, Blair earn top ESPY awards". Deseret News. 14 February 1995. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Ripken, Lobo cart off two ESPYs each". Deseret News. 13 February 1996. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  7. ^ "ESPY Award Winners". Las Vegas Sun. 11 February 1997. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. ^ Boyer Sagert, Kelly; Overman, Steven J. (13 February 2012). Icons of Women's Sport. Greenwood Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-0313385483. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Awards: McGwire top ESPY winner". Kitsap Sun. 16 February 1999. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  10. ^ "And the ESPY goes to ... Jordan". Deseret News. 15 February 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  11. ^ "ESPY winners". Las Vegas Sun. 13 February 2001. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Woods Wins Three ESPYs". Los Angeles Times. July 11, 2002. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Armstrong, Serena Williams earn athlete of the year honors". Deseret News. 17 July 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Armstrong wins ESPY Award". The Hindu. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2017.[dead link]
  15. ^ a b "Annika Sorenstam". LPGA. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  16. ^ Harris, Beth (12 July 2007). "Chargers' Tomlinson Wins 4 ESPY Awards". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Tiger, NY Giants, Parker Big Winners at ESPYs". The Washington Post. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  18. ^ "Phelps a big winner at ESPY Awards". ABC. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  19. ^ Harris, Beth (14 July 2010). "Brees, Vonn take home top ESPYs". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  20. ^ Tourtellotte, Bob (14 July 2011). "Mavericks, Nowitzki shine at Espy Awards". Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  21. ^ "Miami Heat, LeBron James score big at the ESPYs". Reuters. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  22. ^ Grant, Ethan (18 July 2013). "ESPY 2013 Winners: Robin Roberts, LeBron James and Athletes Who Stole the Show". Bleacher Report.
  23. ^ Zucker, Joseph (17 July 2014). "ESPY 2014 Winners: Awards Results, Recap, Top Moments and Twitter Reaction". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  24. ^ Nathan, Alec (16 July 2015). "ESPY Awards 2015 Results: Analyzing LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Other Winners". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  25. ^ Evans, Jayda (13 July 2016). "Storm rookie Breanna Stewart wins ESPY, demands equality for pro female athletes". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  26. ^ Willis, Kelcie. "2018 ESPY Awards: Winners list". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  27. ^ "All the winners from the 2019 ESPY Awards". USA Today.
  28. ^ "2021 ESPYS award winners". ESPN.com. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  29. ^ "ESPY Awards 2022: Katie Ledecky Wins Best Female Athlete Award - GlamStyled". 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  30. ^ "Mikaela Shiffrin is second skier to win ESPY for best athlete". NBC Sports. 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2023-07-16.

References

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