Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year

Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated American magazine has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Americans are eligible, though in the past the vast majority of winners have been from the United States. Both men and women have won the award, originally called "Sportsman of the Year" and renamed "Sportswoman of the Year" or "Sportswomen of the Year" when applicable.

Tiger Woods and LeBron James are the only individuals who have received the award more than once. Woods received his first award in 1996 as an amateur golfer, and in 2000 as a professional golfer.[1] James received his first award in 2012, his second in 2016, and a third in 2020.[2][3]

The trophy is a ceramic replica of an ancient Greek amphora (circa 510 BCE) which depicts nude male Hellenistic athletes engaged in a variety of athletic activities—running, discus, and javelin. It measures 8" in diameter and stands 18.5" high (20.32 x 47 cm). The original amphora was acquired by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1954 and was donated to the "Sports" collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 1979.[4] Winners of the award are now presented with a copy of the amphora made in silver by Tiffany & Co.[5]

Winners

The award's trophy, a ceramic urn depicting great athletes, has been given to the following recipients:

  • Note: non-athlete individuals in Italics
YearWinnerNationalitySportAchievement
1954Roger Bannister Great BritainTrack and fieldFirst sub-four-minute mile
1955Johnny Podres United StatesBaseballWorld Series MVP
1956Bobby Morrow United StatesTrack and fieldTriple Olympic gold medalist
1957Stan Musial United StatesBaseballNational League batting champion
1958Rafer Johnson United StatesTrack and fieldDecathlon world record
1959Ingemar Johansson SwedenBoxingWorld heavyweight champion
1960Arnold Palmer United StatesGolfPGA Player of the Year
1961Jerry Lucas United StatesCollege basketballFinal Four MVP
1962Terry Baker United StatesCollege footballHeisman Trophy winner
1963Pete Rozelle United StatesProfessional footballNFL Commissioner; credited for expansion and the suspension of athletes for gambling
1964Ken Venturi United StatesGolfU.S. Open champion
1965Sandy Koufax United StatesBaseballCy Young Award, strikeout record
1966Jim Ryun United StatesTrack and fieldMile world record
1967Carl Yastrzemski United StatesBaseballTriple Crown winner, AL MVP
1968Bill Russell United StatesProfessional basketballNBA champion player-coach
1969Tom Seaver United StatesBaseballCy Young Award, World Series champion
1970Bobby Orr CanadaHockeyNHL MVP, Art Ross, Conn Smythe, Norris
1971Lee Trevino United StatesGolfPGA Player of the Year
1972Billie Jean King United StatesTennisThree major titles
John Wooden United StatesCollege basketballNCAA champion coach
1973Jackie Stewart Great BritainAuto racingFormula One World Champion
1974Muhammad Ali United StatesBoxingWorld heavyweight champion
1975Pete Rose United StatesBaseballWorld Series MVP
1976Chris Evert United StatesTennisTwo major titles
1977Steve Cauthen United StatesHorse racingEclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey
1978Jack Nicklaus United StatesGolfBritish Open champion
1979Terry Bradshaw United StatesProfessional footballSuper Bowl MVP
Willie Stargell United StatesBaseballNL MVP, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP
1980U.S. Olympic hockey team United StatesHockeyOlympic gold medalists
1981Sugar Ray Leonard United StatesBoxingWorld welterweight champion
1982Wayne Gretzky CanadaHockeyNHL MVP, Art Ross
1983Mary Decker United StatesTrack and fieldDouble world champion
1984Edwin Moses United StatesTrack and fieldOlympic gold medalist
Mary Lou Retton United StatesGymnasticsOlympic gold medalist
1985Kareem Abdul-Jabbar United StatesProfessional basketballPlayoff MVP
1986Joe Paterno United StatesCollege footballNCAA champion coach
1987Bob Bourne CanadaHockeyHelped handicapped children's school
Judi Brown King United StatesTrack and fieldHelped abused children
Kipchoge Keino KenyaTrack and fieldCared for orphaned children
Dale Murphy United StatesBaseballCharity spokesman
Chip Rives United StatesCollege footballHelped needy children
Patty Sheehan United StatesGolfHelped abused girls
Rory Sparrow United StatesProfessional basketballHelped school children
Reggie Williams United StatesProfessional footballHelped high school students
1988Orel Hershiser United StatesBaseballCy Young Award, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP
1989Greg LeMond United StatesCyclingTour de France and World champion
1990Joe Montana United StatesProfessional footballThree-time Super Bowl MVP
1991Michael Jordan United StatesProfessional basketballNBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA Champion
1992Arthur Ashe United StatesTennisSupported humanitarian causes
1993Don Shula United StatesProfessional footballWinningest NFL coach
1994Bonnie Blair United StatesSpeed skatingDouble Olympic gold medalist
Johann Olav Koss NorwaySpeed skatingTriple Olympic gold medalist
1995Cal Ripken, Jr. United StatesBaseballConsecutive games record
1996Tiger Woods United StatesGolfU.S. Amateur, NCAA champion
1997Dean Smith United StatesCollege basketballWinningest college coach at the time of publication
1998Mark McGwire United StatesBaseballSingle-season home run record holder at the time of publication
Sammy Sosa Dominican RepublicBaseballNational League MVP
1999U.S. women's soccer team United StatesSoccerWorld Cup champions
2000Tiger Woods United StatesGolfThree major championships
2001Curt Schilling United StatesBaseballWorld Series Co-MVP
Randy Johnson United StatesBaseballWorld Series Co-MVP, Cy Young Award
2002Lance Armstrong United StatesCyclingFour-time Tour de France winner (wins later disqualified in 2012)
2003David Robinson United StatesProfessional basketballTwo-time NBA champion
Tim Duncan United StatesProfessional basketballNBA MVP, NBA Champion, NBA Finals MVP
2004Boston Red Sox United StatesBaseball2004 World Series champions
2005Tom Brady United StatesProfessional footballTwo-time Super Bowl MVP, Three-time Super Bowl champion
2006Dwyane Wade United StatesProfessional basketballNBA Champion, NBA Finals MVP
2007Brett Favre United StatesProfessional football"For his perseverance and his passion"
2008Michael Phelps United StatesSwimmingEight gold medals in 2008 Summer Olympics
2009Derek Jeter United StatesBaseballFive-time World Series Champion
2010Drew Brees United StatesProfessional footballSuper Bowl MVP and charitable work toward the reconstruction of New Orleans
2011Mike Krzyzewski United StatesCollege basketballMost wins as coach in NCAA men's Division I history
Pat Summitt United StatesCollege basketballAll-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball
2012LeBron James United StatesProfessional basketballNBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA Champion, Olympic gold medalist
2013Peyton Manning United StatesProfessional footballFive-Time NFL MVP, single-season touchdown record, AFC Champion
2014Madison Bumgarner United StatesBaseballThree-time World Series Champion, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP
2015Serena Williams United StatesTennisWon three majors, oldest player to be ranked no. 1 during the Open Era
2016LeBron James United StatesProfessional basketballNBA Finals MVP, led Cleveland Cavaliers to first title in franchise history
2017José Altuve VenezuelaBaseballAmerican League MVP, World Series Champion, Helped lead the Houston Astros to their first ever title and the city's first major championship since 1995.
J. J. Watt United StatesProfessional footballRaised more than $37 million in relief aid for the city of Houston, Texas less than a month after the impact of Hurricane Harvey.
2018Golden State Warriors United StatesProfessional basketball2018 NBA champions, third title in last four years.
2019Megan Rapinoe[6] United StatesSoccerFIFA Women's World Cup champion, won Golden Ball and Golden Boot.
2020Laurent Duvernay-Tardif CanadaFootballSuper Bowl LIV champion, sat out the 2020 season to serve as an orderly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
LeBron James[3] United StatesBasketballNBA Finals MVP, worked to end voter suppression. First three-time winner.
Patrick Mahomes United StatesFootballSuper Bowl MVP, pushed the NFL to recognize the Black Lives Matter movement, pushed to encourage voter registration across the country, as well as among his teammates
Naomi Osaka JapanTennisU.S. Open champion and advocate for social justice.
Breanna Stewart[3] United StatesBasketballWNBA Finals MVP, spoke out against racism and for women's equality.

See also

References

  1. Sens, Josh (December 12, 2015). "Tiger Woods 40 Biggest Moments: No. 19 - 1996 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of Year". Golf.com. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. Neuharth-Keusch, AJ (December 1, 2016). "LeBron James named SI's Sportsperson of the Year for second time". USA Today. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  3. "LeBron James, Breanna Stewart among SI's 2020 Sportspersons of the Year | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  4. "Sports Legends Donate To Smithsonian". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press. June 19, 1979. p. 7C. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  5. Hoffarth, Tom (November 3, 2009). "How much is that trophy in the window?". Farther Off The Wall. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  6. Soccer legend Megan Rapinoe has been named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year Alaa Elassar, CNN, Dec 10, 2019
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.