The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to either a professional or amateur athlete. The awards are voted on annually by a panel of AP sports editors from across the United States, covering mainly American sports. As a result, a large majority of the winners have been Americans. However, non-Americans are also eligible for the honor and have won on a few occasions.
AP Athlete of the Year
Multiple awards
List of male award winners
| Name
|
Sport
|
Awards
|
Years
|
| Lance Armstrong |
Road bicycle racing |
4 |
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
|
| Tiger Woods |
Golf |
4 |
1997, 1999, 2000, 2006
|
| LeBron James |
Basketball |
4 |
2013, 2016, 2018, 2020
|
| Michael Jordan |
Basketball |
3 |
1991, 1992, 1993
|
| Shohei Ohtani |
Baseball |
3 |
2021, 2023, 2024
|
| Don Budge |
Tennis |
2 |
1937, 1938
|
| Sandy Koufax |
Baseball |
2 |
1963, 1965
|
| Carl Lewis |
Track and field |
2 |
1983, 1984
|
| Joe Montana |
American football |
2 |
1989, 1990
|
| Byron Nelson |
Golf |
2 |
1944, 1945
|
| Michael Phelps |
Swimming |
2 |
2008, 2012
|
List of female award winners
| Name
|
Sport
|
Awards
|
Years
|
| Babe Didrikson Zaharias |
Golf/Track and field |
6 |
1932, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1954
|
| Serena Williams |
Tennis |
5 |
2002, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2018
|
| Chris Evert |
Tennis |
4 |
1974, 1975, 1977, 1980
|
| Maureen Connolly |
Tennis |
3 |
1951, 1952, 1953
|
| Annika Sörenstam |
Golf |
3 |
2003, 2004, 2005
|
| Simone Biles |
Gymnastics |
3 |
2016, 2019, 2023
|
| Alice Marble |
Tennis |
2 |
1939, 1940
|
| Althea Gibson |
Tennis |
2 |
1957, 1958
|
| Wilma Rudolph |
Track and field |
2 |
1960, 1961
|
| Mickey Wright |
Golf |
2 |
1963, 1964
|
| Kathy Whitworth |
Golf |
2 |
1965, 1966
|
| Billie Jean King |
Tennis |
2 |
1967, 1973
|
| Tracy Austin |
Tennis |
2 |
1979, 1981
|
| Nancy Lopez |
Golf |
2 |
1978, 1985
|
| Martina Navratilova |
Tennis |
2 |
1983, 1986
|
| Monica Seles |
Tennis |
2 |
1991, 1992
|
| Lorena Ochoa |
Golf |
2 |
2006, 2007
|
| Candace Parker |
Basketball |
2 |
2008, 2021
|
| Katie Ledecky |
Swimming |
2 |
2017, 2022
|
AP Athlete of the Decade
- ^ Became a U.S. citizen in 1994.
- ^ "Tiger AP's Male Athlete Of Year". CBS News. Associated Press. December 27, 1999. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ Ferguson, Doug (December 27, 2000). "Year of the Tiger". Missoulian. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Barry Bonds Voted The Associated Press Male of the Year". Jet. 101 (4): 52. January 12, 2002. Retrieved March 15, 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Vertuino, Jim (December 27, 2002). "Armstrong named AP Athlete of the Year Perseverance: Four-time Tour de France champion tops Bonds". The Brownsville Herald. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "NAMES & GAMES Lance Armstrong: AP Male Athlete of the Year". New Haven Register. December 29, 2003. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ Vertuno, Jim (December 29, 2004). "Armstrong, Sorenstam honored as athletes of year". Deseret News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Lance Armstrong wins AP male athlete honours". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 28, 2005. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Woods wins AP male athlete award for 2006". Orlando Sentinel. December 26, 2006. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ Flannery, Paul (December 21, 2007). "Tom Brady's Charmed Year Continues". Boston. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Michael Phelps Named The Associated Press Top Sports Story, AP Male Athlete of 2008". Swimming World. December 24, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Johnson is AP's top male athlete of '09". Associated Press (ESPN.com). December 21, 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ^ Triplett, Mike (December 18, 2010). "New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees fourth QB to be named AP Athlete of the Year". The Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ Markovich, Tony (December 21, 2011). "Associated Press Votes Aaron Rodgers 2011 Male Athlete of the Year". Complex. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Michael Phelps Named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year". Swimming World. December 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ Schilken, Chuck (December 26, 2013). "LeBron James named Associated Press' male athlete of the year". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ "Madison Bumgarner gets AP honor". Associated Press (via ESPN.com). December 30, 2014. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ^ "Davis wins AP Female Athlete of the Year honors - NBC Sports | NBC Sports". Archived from the original on 2014-12-30. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- ^ Herbert, James (December 26, 2015). "Warriors' Stephen Curry named AP Male Athlete of the Year". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ Withers, Tom (December 27, 2016). "Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James named AP Male Athlete of Year". The News-Herald. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ "Astros star Jose Altuve named AP Male Athlete of the Year". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 27, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ Beth Harris (2017-12-26). "Katie Ledecky Swims to AP Female Athlete of the Year Honors". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
- ^ Holleran, Andrew (December 27, 2018). "Associated Press Names Its 2018 Male Athlete Of The Year". thespun.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ Mahoney, Brian (December 26, 2018). "Serena voted AP Female Athlete of the Year for 5th time". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
- ^ "Kawhi Leonard and Simone Biles Are AP's Athletes of the Year". complex.com. December 28, 2019. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ^ "One of a kind: Ohtani wins AP Male Athlete of Year award". apnews.com/. December 28, 2021. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ "Candace Parker voted AP Female Athlete of Year for 2nd time". Associated Press. 29 December 2021. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Shohei Ohtani wins 3rd AP Male Athlete of the Year award, tying Michael Jordan for 1 shy of record". AP News. 2024-12-23. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
- ^ "Caitlin Clark honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year following her impact on women's sports". AP News. 2024-12-24. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
Notes
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| Regional | |
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| Continental | |
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| World | |
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