Best Female Athlete ESPY Award
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]
Best Female Athlete ESPY Award | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Best Female Athlete |
Location | Los Angeles (2017)[1] |
Presented by | ESPN |
First awarded | 2000 |
Currently held by | Mikaela Shiffrin (United States) |
Website | www |
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 rewarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
List of winners
Statistics
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 |
Nation | Winners (awards) | Winners (individuals) |
---|---|---|
United States | 26 | 22 |
Sweden | 2 | 1 |
FR Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 |
Japan | 1 | 1 |
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- "Young, Blair earn top ESPY awards". Deseret News. 14 February 1995. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "Ripken, Lobo cart off two ESPYs each". Deseret News. 13 February 1996. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "ESPY Award Winners". Las Vegas Sun. 11 February 1997. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- 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.
- "Awards: McGwire top ESPY winner". Kitsap Sun. 16 February 1999. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "And the ESPY goes to ... Jordan". Deseret News. 15 February 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "ESPY winners". Las Vegas Sun. 13 February 2001. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "Woods Wins Three ESPYs". Los Angeles Times. July 11, 2002. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "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.
- "Armstrong wins ESPY Award". The Hindu. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "Annika Sorenstam". LPGA. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- 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.
- "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.
- "Phelps a big winner at ESPY Awards". ABC. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- 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.
- Tourtellotte, Bob (14 July 2011). "Mavericks, Nowitzki shine at Espy Awards". Reuters. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- "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.
- Grant, Ethan (18 July 2013). "ESPY 2013 Winners: Robin Roberts, LeBron James and Athletes Who Stole the Show". Bleacher Report.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Willis, Kelcie. "2018 ESPY Awards: Winners list". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- "All the winners from the 2019 ESPY Awards". USA Today.
- "2021 ESPYS award winners". ESPN.com. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- "ESPY Awards 2022: Katie Ledecky Wins Best Female Athlete Award - GlamStyled". 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
- "Mikaela Shiffrin is second skier to win ESPY for best athlete". NBC Sports. 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
References
- Enumeration of past winners from HickokSports.com at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2002-02-23)