Associated Press Athlete of the Year

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Associated Press Athlete of the Year

The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
was initiated by the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an Media of the United States news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, Radio station and Television station stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staffers....
(AP) in 1931. At a time when women in sports were never 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.

A large majority of the winners, as one would expect from an award given by an American organization, has been Americans (this bias is also reflected in the list of recipients of the Sportsman of the Year

Sportsman of the Year

Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated 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." An overwhelming majority of the winners have been American....
award given by the American magazine Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an United States sports magazine owned by Mass media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men, 19% of the adult males in the United States....
).

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Encyclopedia

The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States

United States

Associated Press

Sportsman of the Year

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players, and is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world....
. In contrast, sports that are popular in the U.S. but which have little international presence, like college (American) football

College football

College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American University, colleges, and United States military academies....
, have had representatives chosen.

List of award winners

All winners are American unless a flag for another country is given prior to the name.

Year	Male		Female
1931	Pepper Martin Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt ?Pepper? Martin was a Major League Baseball player. Martin, who was also known as the ?Wild Horse of the Osage?, was a third baseman and outfielder for the St....	Major League Baseball	Helene Madison Helene Madison Helene Madison was an United States swimmer. She won three gold medals in freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympics. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin....	Swimming
1932	Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen is one of only five golfers to win all the men's major golf championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam :U.S. Open in 1922, 1932,...	PGA golf	Babe Didrikson Babe Zaharias Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias was an United States athlete named by the Guinness Book of Records, along with Lottie Dod, as the most versatile female competitor of all time....	Track and field
1933	Carl Hubbell Carl Hubbell Carl Owen Hubbell was a left-handed screwball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the San Francisco Giants in the National League from to ....	Major League Baseball	Helen Jacobs Helen Jacobs Helen Hull Jacobs was a World No. 1 USA female tennis player who won ten Grand Slam titles. She was born in Globe, Arizona, United States....	Tennis
1934	Dizzy Dean Dizzy Dean Jerome Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an United States pitcher in Major League Baseball, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was born in Logan County, Arkansas, Arkansas, and was a life-long resident of Bond, Mississippi....	Major League Baseball	Virginia Van Wie Virginia Van Wie Virginia Van Wie was an United States golfing champion. She was born in Illinois and attended school in Chicago. In 1925, she won the Western Michigan championship and the Western Junior championship....	Golf
1935	Joe Louis Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was a List of Heavyweight Champions.Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, he is considered to be one of the greatest in boxing history....	Boxing	Helen Wills Moody Helen Wills Moody Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player and widely considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time....	Tennis
1936	Jesse Owens Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an United States Athletics athlete. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 metres relay team....	Track and field	Helen Stephens Helen Stephens Helen Herring Stephens was an United States Athletics , a double Olympic Games champion in 1936.Stephens, nicknamed the 'Fulton Flash' after her birthplace Fulton, Missouri, was a strong athlete in sprint events - she never lost a race in her entire career - but also in weight events like the shot put and discus throw, and she won national...	Track and field
1937	Don Budge Don Budge John Donald Budge was an United States tennis champion who was a World number one male tennis player rankings player for five years, first as an amateur and then as a professional....	Tennis	Katherine Rawls Katherine Rawls Katherine Louise Rawls was a multiple United States national champion in swimming and diving in the 1930s....	Swimming
1938		Tennis	Patty Berg Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg was a founding member and then leading player on the LPGA Tour during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Her fifteen major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer....	Golf
1939	Nile Kinnick Nile Kinnick Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr. was a student and a college football player at the University of Iowa. He won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and was a consensus All-American....	College football	Alice Marble Alice Marble Alice Marble was a World No. 1 United States tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships from 1936 through 1940. Five of those championships were in singles, six were in women's doubles, and seven were in mixed doubles....	Tennis
1940	Tom Harmon Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon was a star player in United States college football, a sports broadcaster, and patriarch of a family of American actors. As a player, he won the Heisman Trophy and is considered by some to be the greatest football player in Michigan Wolverines history....	College football		Tennis
1941	Joe DiMaggio Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, DiMaggio was a 3-time MLB Most Valuable Player Award winner and 13-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game ....	Major League Baseball	Betty Hicks Newell Betty Hicks Newell Elizabeth "Betty" Hicks is an American professional golfer, golf coach and teacher, aviatrix, and author. She also competed under her married name, Betty Hicks Newell....	Golf
1942	Frank Sinkwich Frank Sinkwich Francis "Frank" Sinkwich won the 1942 Heisman Trophy as a player for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conference....	College football	Gloria Callen Gloria Callen Gloria Callen, a backstroke swimmer from the United States, was the 1942 Associated Press Athlete of the Year....	Swimming
1943	Gunder Hägg Gunder Hägg Gunder H?gg was a Sweden Running and multiple world record breaker of the 1940s. Gunder H?gg set over a dozen Middle distance track event world records at events ranging from 1500 metres to 5000 meters, including three at both the 1500 meters and the mile, one at 3000 meters and one at 5000 meters....	Track and field	Patty Berg Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg was a founding member and then leading player on the LPGA Tour during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Her fifteen major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer....	Golf
1944	Byron Nelson Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson, Jr. was an American PGA Tour golfer between 1935 and 1946.He and two other well known golfers of the time, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, were born within 6 months of each other in 1912....	PGA golf	Ann Curtis Ann Curtis Ann Curtis is an United States Olympic Gold Medal winner and native San Franciscan. She was coached by Charlie Sava and was a member of the San Francisco Crystal Plunge team....	Swimming
1945		PGA golf	Babe Didrikson Zaharias Babe Zaharias Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias was an United States athlete named by the Guinness Book of Records, along with Lottie Dod, as the most versatile female competitor of all time....	Golf
1946		College football		Golf
1947	Johnny Lujack Johnny Lujack John Christopher Lujack Jr. is a former American football quarterback and 1947 Heisman Trophy winner.Lujack was born on January 4, 1925 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania....	College football		Golf
1948	Lou Boudreau Lou Boudreau Louis "Lou" Boudreau was an United States Major League Baseball player and Manager . He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1970....	Major League Baseball	Fanny Blankers-Koen Fanny Blankers-Koen Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen was a Netherlands athletics , best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London....	Track and field
1949	Leon Hart Leon Hart Leon Joseph Hart was an American football tight end and defensive end. He was from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.He won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award whilst at the University of Notre Dame in 1949 and played in the National Football League for eight season s, all with the Detroit Lions....	College football		Golf
1950	Jim Konstanty Jim Konstanty Casimir James Konstanty was an United States relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds , Atlanta Braves , Philadelphia Phillies , New York Yankees and St....	Major League Baseball		LPGA golf
1951	Dick Kazmaier Dick Kazmaier Richard Kazmaier was an American football player for Princeton University from 1947 through 1951 and winner of the 1951 Heisman Trophy. As a running back, Placekicker and quarterback, he ended his career third all time in Princeton history with over 4000 yards of Offense and 55 touchdowns....	College football	Maureen Connolly Maureen Connolly Maureen Catherine Connolly was an American tennis player who was the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments during the same calendar year....	Tennis
1952	Bob Mathias Bob Mathias Robert Bruce Mathias was an United States Decathlon, two-time Olympic Games gold medalist, and United States House of Representatives....	Track and field		Tennis
1953	Ben Hogan Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan was an United States professional golfer, and is generally considered one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game....	PGA golf		Tennis
1954		Major League Baseball		LPGA golf
1955		College football	Patty Berg Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg was a founding member and then leading player on the LPGA Tour during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Her fifteen major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer....	LPGA golf
1956	Mickey Mantle Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle was an American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.He played his entire 18-year major-league professional career for the New York Yankees, winning 3 American League MVP titles and playing for 16 Major League Baseball All-Star Game teams....	Major League Baseball	Pat McCormick Pat McCormick (diver) Patricia Joan McCormick is a retired female diving from the United States, who won a total number of four gold medals at two consecutive Summer Olympics ....	Diving
1957	Ted Williams Ted Williams Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams also nicknamed The Kid, the Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame and The Thumper, was an United States left fielder in Major League Baseball....	Major League Baseball	Althea Gibson Althea Gibson Althea Gibson was an United States sportswoman who became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour and the first to win a Grand Slam title in 1956....	Tennis
1958	Herb Elliott Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott Order of Australia Order of the British Empire is a former Australian Athletics , one of the world's greatest middle distance runners....	Track and field		Tennis
1959	Ingemar Johansson Ingemar Johansson Jens Ingemar Johansson was a Swedish people Boxing and former List of Heavyweight Champions. He defeated Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship....	Boxing	Maria Bueno Maria Bueno Maria Ester Audion Bueno, born 11 October 1939, in S?o Paulo, Brazil, is a female tennis player who won nineteen Grand Slam titles during her career....	Tennis
1960	Rafer Johnson Rafer Johnson Rafer Lewis Johnson is an United States former decathlon....	Track and field	Wilma Rudolph Wilma Rudolph Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an United States athlete, and in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in athletics during a single Olympic Games, despite running on a sprained ankle at the time....	Track and field
1961	Roger Maris Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris was an United States right fielder in Major League Baseball who is primarily remembered for breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record , in 1961 Major League Baseball season, a record that would stand for 37 years....	Major League Baseball		Track and field
1962	Maury Wills Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and switch-hitter batter who played most prominently with the Los Angeles Dodgers , and also with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos ....	Major League Baseball	Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser Dawn Lorraine Fraser Order of Australia, Order of the British Empire is an Australian champion swimmer. She is one of only two swimmers to win the same Olympic event three times, in her case, the 100 meters freestyle....	Swimming
1963	Sandy Koufax Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax is an United States left-handed former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Los Angeles Dodgers, from to ....	Major League Baseball	Mickey Wright Mickey Wright Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright is an United States professional golfer.Wright was born in San Diego, California. She won 82 events on the LPGA Tour, which puts her second on the all time win list behind Kathy Whitworth, who won 88 times....	LPGA golf
1964	Don Schollander Don Schollander Donald Arthur Schollander is a former Olympic swimming for the United States....	Swimming		LPGA golf
1965	Sandy Koufax Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax is an United States left-handed former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Los Angeles Dodgers, from to ....	Major League Baseball	Kathy Whitworth Kathy Whitworth Kathy Whitworth is an United States professional golfer. Throughout her playing career she won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than anyone else has won on either the LPGA Tour or the PGA Tour....	LPGA golf
1966	Frank Robinson Frank Robinson Frank Robinson , is a former Major League Baseball player. He was an outfielder, most notably with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles....	Major League Baseball		LPGA golf
1967	Carl Yastrzemski Carl Yastrzemski Carl Michael Yastrzemski...	Major League Baseball	Billie Jean King Billie Jean King Billie Jean King is a retired tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles....	Tennis
1968	Denny McLain Denny McLain Dennis Dale "Denny" McLain is a former United States professional baseball player. He is the last major league pitcher to Win 30 or more games during a season....	Major League Baseball	Peggy Fleming Peggy Fleming Peggy Gale Fleming is an United States figure skating who won an Olympic Games gold medal in 1968 and has been a television commentator on figure skating for over 20 years, including several Winter Olympic Games....	Figure skating
1969	Tom Seaver Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the major leagues in and retired in . He played for four different teams in his career, but is primarily associated with the New York Mets....	Major League Baseball	Debbie Meyer Debbie Meyer Deborah Elizabeth Meyer is a former American swimmer who won the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle swimming events in the 1968 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City....	Swimming
1970	George Blanda George Blanda George "The Fossil" Blanda is a former American football placekicker and quarterback. The son of a Pittsburgh area coal miner, Blanda has the distinction of having played 26 seasons of professional football, the most in the sport's history, and had scored more points than anyone in history at the time of his retirement....	National Football League	Chi Cheng Chi Cheng Chi Cheng , is considered Asia's top female track and field athlete of the 20th century.Born in Taiwan, Chi studied in the United States at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California where she received most of her athletic training....	Track and field
1971	Lee Trevino Lee Trevino Lee Buck Trevino is an American professional golfer. He is an icon for Mexican Americans, and is often referred to as "The Merry Mex" and "Supermex"....	PGA golf	Evonne Goolagong Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley, Order of Australia, Order of the British Empire is a former World No. 1 Australian female tennis player. She was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s, when she won 14 Grand Slam title titles: seven in singles , six in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles....	Tennis
1972	Mark Spitz Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer, best known for winning Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement surpassed only when Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympics....	Swimming	Olga Korbut Olga Korbut Olga Valentinovna Korbut , also known as the Sparrow from Minsk, is a Belarusians, Soviet Union-born gymnast who won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympics, in which she competed in 1972 Summer Olympics and 1976 Summer Olympics for the USSR team....	Gymnastics
1973		National Football League	Billie Jean King Billie Jean King Billie Jean King is a retired tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles....	Tennis
1974	Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali is a retired United States boxing and former three-time List of heavyweight boxing champions.As an amateur, Ali won a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in the light heavyweight division gold medal....	Boxing	Chris Evert Chris Evert Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former List of ATP number 1 ranked players professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including a record 7 at the French Open....	Tennis
1975	Fred Lynn Fred Lynn Frederic Michael "Fred" Lynn is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox , Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim , Baltimore Orioles , Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres ....	Major League Baseball		Tennis
1976	Bruce Jenner Bruce Jenner William Bruce Jenner is a former United States of America track & field athlete, motivational speaker, socialite, and television personality known principally for winning the decathlon in the 1976 Summer Olympics....	Track and field	Nadia Comaneci Nadia Comaneci Nadia Elena Comaneci is a Romanian gymnastics, winner of five Olympic Games gold medals, and the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event....	Gymnastics
1977	Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen is an American jockey.Cauthen, the son of a trainer and a farrier, grew up in Walton, Kentucky around horses, which made race-riding a logical career choice....	Horse racing		Tennis
1978	Ron Guidry Ron Guidry Ronald Ames Guidry is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played 14 seasons for the New York Yankees from 1975 through 1988....	Major League Baseball	Nancy Lopez Nancy Lopez Nancy Lopez is an United States professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won three women's major golf championships and 48 LPGA Tour events in all....	LPGA golf
1979	Willie Stargell Willie Stargell Wilver Dornell "Willie" Stargell , nicknamed "Pops" in the later years of his career, was a professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an outfielder and first baseman....	Major League Baseball	Tracy Austin Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 women's professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon Championships in 1980, before a series of injuries cut short her career....	Tennis
1980	U.S. Olympic hockey team Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" is the nickname given to a February 22 medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics, in which a team of amateur and collegiate players from the United States, led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet Union team, who were considered to be the best international hockey team in the world, 4–3...	Amateur Ice Hockey		Tennis
1981	John McEnroe John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is an American former List of ATP number 1 ranked players professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam title singles titles?three at Wimbledon Championships and four at the U.S....	Tennis		Tennis
1982	Wayne Gretzky Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky, Order of Canada is a retired Canada professional ice hockey player. He is the current part-owner, head of hockey operations, and coach of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League ....	NHL ice hockey	Mary Decker Mary Decker Mary Slaney is an United States former track and field athlete, who holds seven American records in her sport. In 1981 she married marathon runner Ron Tabb....	Track and field
1983	Carl Lewis Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis is a retired American Athletics athlete who won 10 Olympic Games medals including 9 golds, and 10 IAAF World Championships in Athletics medals, of which 8 were golds, in a career that spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired....	Track and field	Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked players women's tennis player. Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, "She's the greatest singles, doubles and Types of tennis match player who's ever lived." Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the...	Tennis
1984		Track and field	Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton Mary Lou Retton is an American gymnastics. She was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic Games all-around title....	Gymnastics
1985	Dwight Gooden Dwight Gooden Dwight Eugene Gooden , also known as Doc Gooden or Dr. K, is a former major league baseball player. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s, but his career declined precipitously, primarily due to injuries and drug abuse....	Major League Baseball		LPGA golf
1986	Larry Bird Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird is a retired American National Basketball Association basketball player, widely considered one of the best players of all time and one of the top clutch performers in the history of U.S....	NBA basketball		Tennis
1987		Track and field	Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a retired United States athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump....	Track and field
1988	Orel Hershiser Orel Hershiser Orel Leonard Hershiser IV is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is currently an analyst for Baseball Tonight and Wednesday Night Baseball on ESPN....	Major League Baseball		Track and field
1989	Joe Montana Joe Montana For the actor with a similarly pronounced name, see Joe Mantegna.Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr., , nicknamed Joe Cool and Comeback Joe, is a retired United States American football player whose professional career in the National Football League spanned the late 1970s through the mid-1990s....	National Football League	Steffi Graf Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf is a former List of WTA number 1 ranked players ranked female tennis player from Germany. Billie Jean King is quoted as saying in 1999, "Steffi is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time." Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players....	Tennis
1990		National Football League	Beth Daniel Beth Daniel Beth Daniel is a professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1979 and won 1 women's major golf championships and thirty-three LPGA Tour victories in all....	LPGA golf
1991	Michael Jordan Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a retired United States professional basketball player and active businessman. His biography on the National Basketball Association website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instr...	NBA basketball	Monica Seles Monica Seles Monica Seles is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Hungarians in Vojvodina parents but became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994....	Tennis
1992		NBA basketball		Tennis
1993		NBA basketball	Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes is an American professional basketball player who played most recently for the Seattle Storm in the Women's National Basketball Association....	College basketball
1994	George Foreman George Foreman George Edward Foreman is an United States two-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and entrepreneur.He is the oldest man ever to win a major heavyweight title when, at 45, he knocked out 26-year-old Michael Moorer in the 10th round....	Boxing	Bonnie Blair Bonnie Blair Bonnie Kathleen Blair is a retired American speed skating. One of the top female skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated female athletes in Olympic Games history, Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal....	Speed skating
1995	Cal Ripken, Jr. Cal Ripken, Jr. Calvin Edwin "Cal" Ripken, Jr. , is a retired Major League Baseball player and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Class of 2007 inductee, where he was a first-time ballot inductee with the third highest voting percentage in Hall of Fame voting history behind Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan....	Major League Baseball	Rebecca Lobo Rebecca Lobo Rebecca Rose Lobo is an American television basketball analyst and a former player in the professional Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 2003....	College basketball
1996	Michael Johnson Michael Johnson (athlete) Michael Duane Johnson is a retired United States Sprint . He won four Olympic Games gold medals and was crowned IAAF World Championships in Athletics nine times....	Track and field	Amy Van Dyken Amy Van Dyken Amy Van Dyken is an American swimming who has six career Olympic Games gold medals. Four of these gold medals came in the 1996 Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to accomplish such a feat....	Swimming
1997	Tiger Woods Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time....	PGA golf	Martina Hingis Martina Hingis Martina Hingis is a retired professional tennis player who spent a total of 209 weeks as World No. 1. She won five Grand Slam singles titles ....	Tennis
1998	Mark McGwire Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire is a former Major League Baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the Oakland Athletics before finishing his career with the St....	Major League Baseball	Se Ri Pak Se Ri Pak Pak Se Ri is a South Korean professional golfer, playing on the LPGA Tour. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in November 2007....	LPGA golf
1999		PGA golf	U.S. women's soccer team United States women's national soccer team The United States Women's National Soccer Team is operated by the United States Soccer Federation. The team has won two FIFA Women's World Cups ; three Football at the Summer Olympics and six Algarve Cups ....	soccer
2000		PGA golf	Marion Jones Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones, also known as Marion Jones-Thompson , is an United States former world champion Athletics . She won five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia but has since agreed to forfeit all medals and prizes dating back to September 2000 after admitting that she took performance-enhancing drugs....	Track and field
2001	Barry Bonds Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds is a Major League Baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He is the son of former major league Major League Baseball All-Star Game Bobby Bonds, Godparent of National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Willie Mays, nephew of 1964 Summer Olympics Rosie Bonds, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson....	Major League Baseball	Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Marie Capriati is a former World No. 1 women's tennis player from the United States. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles and the women's singles gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games....	Tennis
2002	Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong is an United States professional Road bicycle racing who rides for UCI ProTeam Team Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 Tour de France to 2005 Tour de France....	Cycling	Serena Williams Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player who, as of February 2, 2009, is ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association, having now held that ranking on four different occasions....	Tennis
2003		Cycling	Annika Sörenstam Annika Sörenstam Annika S?renstam is a Sweden professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before "stepping away" from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golf player with the most wins to her name....	LPGA golf
2004		Cycling		LPGA golf
2005		Cycling		LPGA golf
2006		PGA golf	Lorena Ochoa Lorena Ochoa Lorena Ochoa is a Mexican golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and is currently Women's World Golf Rankings#Current top 10 female golfer in the world....	LPGA golf
2007	Tom Brady Tom Brady Thomas Edward "Tom" Brady, Jr. is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After playing college football at University of Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft....	National Football League		LPGA golf
2008	Michael Phelps Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps is an United States swimming. He has won 14 career Olympic Games gold medals, the most by any Olympian. As of 2008, Phelps holds seven List of world records in swimming....	Swimming	Candace Parker Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker is an All-American basketball player for the Women's National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Sparks. She was drafted to the team from Tennessee in 2008 WNBA Draft....	WNBA