Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year

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Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated 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.

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Tiger Woods, Tom Brady 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] Brady received his first award in 2005, and his second in 2021. James received his first award in 2012, his second in 2016, and a third in 2020. [2] [3] Curt Schilling and Stephen Curry have won the award both individually and as part of a team. [4]

The trophy is a ceramic replica of an ancient Greek amphora (c. 510 BC) 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. [5] Winners of the award are now presented with a copy of the amphora made in silver by Tiffany & Co. [6]

Winners

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

YearWinnerNationalitySportAchievement
1954 Roger Bannister Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Track and field First sub-four-minute mile
1955 Johnny Podres Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball World Series MVP
1956 Bobby Morrow Flag of the United States.svg  United States Track and fieldTriple Olympic gold medalist
1957 Stan Musial Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball National League batting champion
1958 Rafer Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States Track and field Decathlon world record
1959 Ingemar Johansson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Boxing World Heavyweight Champion
1960 Arnold Palmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States Golf PGA Player of the Year
1961 Jerry Lucas Flag of the United States.svg  United States College basketball Final Four MVP
1962 Terry Baker Flag of the United States.svg  United States College football Heisman Trophy winner
1963 Pete Rozelle Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional football NFL Commissioner; credited for expansion and the suspension of athletes for gambling
1964 Ken Venturi Flag of the United States.svg  United States Golf U.S. Open champion
1965 Sandy Koufax Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball World Series Champion, Cy Young Award, Triple Crown winner, World Series MVP
1966 Jim Ryun Flag of the United States.svg  United States Track and fieldMile world record
1967 Carl Yastrzemski Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball Triple Crown winner, AL MVP
1968 Bill Russell Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball NBA champion player-coach
1969 Tom Seaver Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballCy Young Award, World Series champion
1970 Bobby Orr Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Hockey NHL MVP, Art Ross, Conn Smythe, Norris
1971 Lee Trevino Flag of the United States.svg  United States GolfPGA Player of the Year
1972 Billie Jean King Flag of the United States.svg  United States TennisThree major titles
John Wooden Flag of the United States.svg  United States College basketball NCAA champion coach
1973 Jackie Stewart Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Auto racing Formula One World Champion
1974 Muhammad Ali Flag of the United States.svg  United States BoxingWorld heavyweight champion
1975 Pete Rose Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballWorld Series MVP
1976 Chris Evert Flag of the United States.svg  United States TennisTwo major titles
1977 Steve Cauthen Flag of the United States.svg  United States Horse racing Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey
1978 Jack Nicklaus Flag of the United States.svg  United States Golf British Open champion
1979 Terry Bradshaw Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional football Super Bowl MVP
Willie Stargell Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballNL MVP, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP
1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team Flag of the United States.svg  United States Hockey Olympic gold medalists
1981 Sugar Ray Leonard Flag of the United States.svg  United States BoxingWorld welterweight champion
1982 Wayne Gretzky Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Hockey NHL MVP, Art Ross
1983 Mary Decker Flag of the United States.svg  United States Track and fieldDouble world champion
1984 Edwin Moses Flag of the United States.svg  United States Track and field Olympic gold medalist
Mary Lou Retton Flag of the United States.svg  United States Gymnastics Olympic gold medalist
1985 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball Playoff MVP
1986 Joe Paterno Flag of the United States.svg  United States College footballNCAA champion coach
1987 Bob Bourne Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada HockeyHelped handicapped children's school
Judi Brown King Flag of the United States.svg  United States Track and fieldHelped abused children
Kipchoge Keino Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Track and fieldCared for orphaned children
Dale Murphy Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballCharity spokesman
Chip Rives Flag of the United States.svg  United States College footballHelped needy children
Patty Sheehan Flag of the United States.svg  United States GolfHelped abused girls
Rory Sparrow Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketballHelped school children
Reggie Williams Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballHelped high school students
1988 Orel Hershiser Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball World Series Champion, Cy Young Award, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP
1989 Greg LeMond Flag of the United States.svg  United States Road cycling Tour de France and World champion
1990 Joe Montana Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballThree-time Super Bowl MVP
1991 Michael Jordan Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA Champion
1992 Arthur Ashe Flag of the United States.svg  United States TennisSupported humanitarian causes
1993 Don Shula Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballWinningest NFL coach
1994 Bonnie Blair Flag of the United States.svg  United States Speed skating Double Olympic gold medalist
Johann Olav Koss Flag of Norway.svg  Norway Speed skatingTriple Olympic gold medalist
1995 Cal Ripken Jr. Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballConsecutive games record
1996 Tiger Woods Flag of the United States.svg  United States Golf U.S. Amateur, NCAA champion
1997 Dean Smith Flag of the United States.svg  United States College basketballWinningest college coach at the time of publication
1998 Mark McGwire Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballSingle-season home run record holder at the time of publication
Sammy Sosa Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic BaseballNational League MVP
1999 U.S. women's soccer team Flag of the United States.svg  United States Soccer World Cup champions
2000 Tiger Woods (2)Flag of the United States.svg  United States GolfThree major championships
2001 Curt Schilling Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballWorld Series Co-MVP
Randy Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States BaseballWorld Series Co-MVP, Cy Young Award
2002 Lance Armstrong Flag of the United States.svg  United States CyclingFour-time Tour de France winner (wins later disqualified in 2012)
2003 David Robinson Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketballTwo-time NBA champion
Tim Duncan Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketballNBA MVP, NBA Champion, NBA Finals MVP
2004 Boston Red Sox Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball 2004 World Series champions
2005 Tom Brady Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballTwo-time Super Bowl MVP, Three-time Super Bowl champion
2006 Dwyane Wade Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketballNBA Champion, NBA Finals MVP
2007 Brett Favre Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional football"For his perseverance and his passion"
2008 Michael Phelps Flag of the United States.svg  United States SwimmingEight gold medals in 2008 Summer Olympics
2009 Derek Jeter Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball World Series Champion
2010 Drew Brees Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballSuper Bowl MVP and charitable work toward the reconstruction of New Orleans
2011 Mike Krzyzewski Flag of the United States.svg  United States College basketballMost wins as coach in NCAA men's Division I history
Pat Summitt Flag of the United States.svg  United States College basketballAll-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball
2012 LeBron James Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketballNBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA Champion, Olympic gold medalist
2013 Peyton Manning Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballFive-Time NFL MVP, single-season touchdown record, AFC Champion
2014 Madison Bumgarner Flag of the United States.svg  United States Baseball World Series Champion, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP
2015 Serena Williams Flag of the United States.svg  United States TennisWon three majors, oldest player to be ranked no. 1 during the Open Era
2016 LeBron James (2)Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketballNBA Finals MVP, led Cleveland Cavaliers to first title in franchise history
2017 Jose Altuve Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela BaseballAmerican 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 Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional footballRaised more than $37 million in relief aid for the city of Houston, Texas less than a month after the impact of Hurricane Harvey.
2018 Golden State Warriors Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball 2018 NBA champions, third title in last four years.
2019 Megan Rapinoe [7] Flag of the United States.svg  United States Soccer FIFA Women's World Cup champion, won Golden Ball and Golden Boot.
2020 Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Professional football Super Bowl LIV champion, sat out the 2020 season to serve as an orderly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
LeBron James (3) [3] Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball NBA Finals MVP, worked to end voter suppression. First three-time winner.
Patrick Mahomes Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional football Super 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 Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Tennis U.S. Open champion and advocate for social justice.
Breanna Stewart [3] Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball WNBA Finals MVP, spoke out against racism and for women's equality.
2021 Tom Brady (2)Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional football Super Bowl LV MVP, 7-time Super Bowl champion
2022 Stephen Curry Flag of the United States.svg  United States Professional basketball NBA Finals MVP, led the Golden State Warriors to their fourth title in eight years.
2023 Deion Sanders Flag of the United States.svg  United States College footballFor revitalizing the Colorado Buffaloes Football program, despite a 4–8 record.
2024 Simone Biles Flag of the United States.svg  United States Artistic gymnastics3x 2024 Olympic gold medalist, transformed gymnastics in the USA and conversations around athletes in general.

See also

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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. 1 2 3 "LeBron James, Breanna Stewart among SI's 2020 Sportspersons of the Year | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ Rosenberg, Michae (December 6, 2022). "Stephen Curry Is SI's 2022 Sportsperson of the Year". SI.com. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Sports Legends Donate To Smithsonian". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press. June 19, 1979. p. 7C. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  6. ↑ Hoffarth, Tom (November 3, 2009). "How much is that trophy in the window?". Farther Off The Wall. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ Soccer legend Megan Rapinoe has been named Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year Alaa Elassar, CNN, Dec 10, 2019
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