James E. Sullivan Award

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Past winners

• 1930 - Bobby Jones
  Bobby Jones (golfer)
  
  Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was one of the greatest golfers to compete on a national and international level. He participated only as an amateur, primarily on a part-time basis, and chose to retire from competition at age 28....
  , golf
• 1931 - Bernard Berlinger, decathlon
• 1932 - James Bausch
  James Bausch
  
  James Aloysius Bernard Bausch, a.k.a. "Jarring Jim" was an United States athlete who competed mainly in the Decathlon.Bausch went to college at the University of Kansas, where he starred in football and basketball....
  , decathlon
• 1933 - Glenn Cunningham
  Glenn Cunningham (runner)
  
  Glenn V. Cunningham was an United States distance runner and Athletics considered by many the greatest American miler of all time. He received the James E....
  , running - middle distance
• 1934 - William Bonthron, running - middle distance
• 1935 - W. Lawson Little, Jr.
  Lawson Little
  
  William Lawson Little, Jr. was an United States golfer.Little was born in Newport, Rhode Island. He was one of the most dominant amateur players in the history of the sport, winning both the The Amateur Championship and the United States Amateur Championship , then regarded as men's major golf championshipss, in both 1934 and 1935....
  , golf
• 1936 - Glenn Morris
  Glenn Morris
  
  Glenn Edgar Morris was a United States of America track and field Athletics . He won a gold medal in the Olympic decathlon in 1936. Morris, a southeastern Colorado farm boy, overcame genetic heart disease and was the classic "overcompensating athlete" who distinguished himself in track and field....
  , decathlon
• 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
• 1938 - Donald R. Lash, running - long distance
• 1939 - Joe Burk, rowing
• 1940 - J. Gregory Rice, track & field
• 1941 - T. Leslie MacMitchell, track & field
• 1942 - Cornelius Warmerdam
  Cornelius Warmerdam
  
  Cornelius Warmerdam was a long time pole vault world record holder and is considered to be among the all time greatest vaulters.He was born in Long Beach, California....
  , pole vault
• 1943 - Gilbert R. Dodds
  Gil Dodds (athlete)
  
  Gilbert Lothair Dodds , called "The Flying Parson", was an United States distance runner and Athletics . In the 1940s, he held the American and World records for the mile run....
  , running - middle distance
• 1944 - 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 - Felix "Doc" Blanchard, football
• 1946 - Y. Arnold Tucker, football
• 1947 - John B. Kelly, Jr.
  John B. Kelly, Jr.
  
  John Brenden Kelly, Jr. , also known as Kell Kelly or Jack Kelly, was an accomplished oarsman, a four-time Olympian, and an Olympic medal winner....
  , rowing
• 1948 - Bob Mathias
  Bob Mathias
  
  Robert Bruce Mathias was an United States Decathlon, two-time Olympic Games gold medalist, and United States House of Representatives....
  , decathlon
• 1949 - Dick Button
  Dick Button
  
  Richard Totten "Dick" Button is an United States former figure skating and a well-known long-time skating television analyst.Button was a two-time Olympic champion and is credited as having been the first skater to successfully land the axel jump jump in competition in 1948, as well as the first triple jump of any kind -- a triple loop ju...
  , figure skating
• 1950 - Fred Wilt, running - long distance
• 1951 - Bob Richards
  Bob Richards
  
  The Rev. Robert "Bob" Eugene Richards , known as the "Vaulting Vicar" or the "Pole Vaulting Parson" in his competitive days, was a versatile athlete who made three Olympic Games teams in two events....
  , pole vault, decathlon
• 1952 - Horace Ashenfelter
  Horace Ashenfelter
  
  Horace Ashenfelter, III was an American athlete. He competed in international athletics from 1947 to 1956 after service in World War II and the completion of his degree at Pennsylvania State University....
  , running - long distance
• 1953 - Sammy Lee
  Sammy Lee (diver)
  
  Dr. Samuel Lee is the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving....
  , diving
• 1954 - Mal Whitfield
  Mal Whitfield
  
  Malvin "Mal" Greston Whitfield is a former United States Athletics , a double winner of 800 m at the Olympic Games. Mal Whitfield is the father of CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield and of Ed Wright , an All-America High Jumper for the University of California, Berkeley....
  , running - middle distance
• 1955 - Harrison Dillard
  Harrison Dillard
  
  William Harrison Dillard is an United States Athletics , the only male so far to win Olympic Games titles in both Sprint and hurdling events....
  , running - sprinting
• 1956 - 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 - Bobby Joe Morrow
  Bobby Joe Morrow
  
  Bobby Joe Morrow is a former United States Athletics , winner of three Olympic Games gold medals in 1956....
  , running - sprinting
• 1958 - Glenn Ashby Davis
  Glenn Ashby Davis
  
  Glenn Ashby "Jeep" Davis was an Olympic hurdler and sprinter who won a total of three gold medals in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic games. He later played professional football with the Detroit Lions and was a teacher and coach in his adopted hometown of Barberton, Ohio for 33 years....
  , running - sprinting
• 1959 - Parry O'Brien
  Parry O'Brien
  
  William Patrick "Parry" O'Brien was an United States shot put champion. Born in Santa Monica, California, he competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals and one silver medal ....
  , shot put, discus
• 1960 - Rafer Johnson
  Rafer Johnson
  
  Rafer Lewis Johnson is an United States former decathlon....
  , decathlon
• 1961 - 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....
  , running - sprinting
• 1962 - Jim Beatty
  Jim Beatty
  
  James Tully Beatty is a former United States Athletics athlete who is best remembered as the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier on an indoor track when he ran 3:58.9 on February 10, 1962 in Los Angeles, California....
  , track & field
• 1963 - John Pennel
  John Pennel
  
  John Thomas Pennel was an United States pole vaulter, and nine time World records in athletics holder.When Robert Gardner became the first man to clear 13ft....
  , pole vault
• 1964 - Don Schollander
  Don Schollander
  
  Donald Arthur Schollander is a former Olympic swimming for the United States....
  , swimming
• 1965 - Bill Bradley
  Bill Bradley
  
  William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an United States Basketball Hall of Fame basketball player, Rhodes Scholarship, and former United States Senate from New Jersey and President of the United States candidate, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party 's nomination for President of the United States in the United States presidential elect...
  , basketball
• 1966 - Jim Ryun
  Jim Ryun
  
  James Ronald Ryun is an United States former Athletics and politician, who was a Republican Party member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, representing the Kansas's 2nd congressional district in Kansas....
  , running - middle distance
• 1967 - Randy Matson
  Randy Matson
  
  James Randel Matson is a former United States Olympic games shot put thrower. In 1968 he stood 6'6.5", and weighed about 20 stone ....
  , shot put, discus
• 1968 - 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
• 1969 - Bill Toomey
  Bill Toomey
  
  William Anthony Toomey is a former United States Athletics competitor and the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion.A graduate of Worcester Academy and the University of Colorado, Toomey was named American Broadcasting Company's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year in 1968....
  , decathlon
• 1970 - John Kinsella
  John Kinsella (swimmer)
  
  John Pitann Kinsella was a standout at Illinois swimming powerhouse Hinsdale Central High School in the late 1960s. As a 16 year-old, he was the List of Olympic medalists in swimming in the 1500 meter freestyle swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics, finishing second to U.S....
  , swimming
• 1971 - 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
• 1972 - Frank Shorter
  Frank Shorter
  
  Frank Shorter is an United States distance runner and winner of the Marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics.Born in Munich, Germany, where his father, physician Samuel Shorter, served in the army, Frank Shorter grew up in Middletown, Orange County, New York and attended and graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School, Yale University, and...
  , running - long distance
• 1973 - Bill Walton
  Bill Walton
  
  William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball Player and current television sportscaster. The ?Big Red-Head?, as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s and winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards and went on to have a prominent career in...
  , basketball
• 1974 - Rick Wohlhuter
  Rick Wohlhuter
  
  Rick Wohlhuter is an United States athlete who competed mainly in the 800 meters.He competed for the United States in the Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada in the 800 meters where he won the bronze medal....
  , running - middle distance
• 1975 - Tim Shaw
  Tim Shaw (swimmer)
  
  Timothy Andrew Shaw , in Long Beach, California, California) is a former United States swimming and water polo player.He is one of a handful of athletes to win Olympic medals in two different sports....
  , swimming, water polo
• 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....
  , decathlon
• 1977 - John Naber
  John Naber
  
  John Phillips Naber is a swimmer from the United States. He won four gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, each in world-record time....
  , swimming
• 1978 - Tracy Caulkins
  Tracy Caulkins
  
  Tracy Caulkins Stockwell is a former three time gold medal Swimming from the United States.Caulkins is perhaps best remembered for her adeptness at all four major competitive swimming strokes; the Butterfly stroke, breaststroke, backstroke, and Freestyle swimming....
  , swimming
• 1979 - Kurt Thomas
  Kurt Thomas (gymnast)
  
  Kurt Bilteaux Thomas is an American Olympic Games gymnastics.While at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, Thomas became a member of the US Olympic team at the 1976 Summer Olympics....
  , gymnastics
• 1980 - Eric Heiden
  Eric Heiden
  
  Eric Arthur Heiden is an American former speed skating who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, United States....
  , speed skating
• 1981 - 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....
  , long jump, running - sprinting
• 1982 - 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....
  , running - middle distance, long distance
• 1983 - Edwin Moses
  Edwin Moses
  
  Edwin Corley Moses is an United States Athletics who won gold medals in the 400-meter Hurdling at the 1976 Summer Olympics and 1984 Summer Olympics....
  , running - sprinting
• 1984 - Greg Louganis
  Greg Louganis
  
  Gregory Efthimios Louganis is an United States diving who is best known for winning back-to-back Olympic Games titles in both the 3m and 10m diving events....
  , diving
• 1985 - Joan Benoit
  Joan Benoit
  
  Joan Benoit Samuelson is an United States Marathon runner who won gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, the year that the women's marathon was introduced....
  , running - long distance
• 1986 - 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....
  , heptathlon
• 1987 - Jim Abbott
  Jim Abbott
  
  James Anthony Abbott is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, and the Milwaukee Brewers, from to ....
  , baseball
• 1988 - Florence Griffith Joyner, running - sprinting
• 1989 - Janet Evans
  Janet Evans
  
  Janet Elizabeth Evans is a United States competitive swimmer.Born in Placentia, California, Evans started swimming competitively as a child. By the age of 11 she was setting National Age Group records in the longer events....
  , swimming
• 1990 - John Smith
  John Smith (wrestler)
  
  John William Smith was a successful amateur wrestling, Olympic Games competitor, and is currently the head coach of collegiate wrestling at Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling....
  , wrestling
• 1991 - Mike Powell
  Mike Powell (athlete)
  
  Michael Anthony Powell is a former United States athletics athlete, and the holder of the long jump world record.Mike Powell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
  , long jump
• 1992 - 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
• 1993 - Charlie Ward
  Charlie Ward
  
  Charlie Ward, Jr. is a three sports retired United States professional NBA basketball player, college American football Heisman Trophy winner, Davey O'Brien Award winner and a Major League Baseball draftee....
  , basketball, football
• 1994 - Dan Jansen
  Dan Jansen
  
  Daniel Erwin Jansen is a former Speed skating, best known for winning a gold medal in his final Olympic race after suffering through years of heartbreak....
  , speed skating
• 1995 - Bruce Baumgartner
  Bruce Baumgartner
  
  Bruce Robert Baumgartner is a retired United States amateur wrestling and current Director of Athletics for the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania....
  , wrestling
• 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....
  , running - sprinting
• 1997 - Peyton Manning
  Peyton Manning
  
  Peyton Williams Manning is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. Manning is one of only two three-time NFL MVPs....
  , football
• 1998 - Chamique Holdsclaw
  Chamique Holdsclaw
  
  Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw is a professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association under a contract with the Atlanta Dream....
  , basketball
• 1999 - Coco Miller
  Coco Miller
  
  Colleen Mary ?Coco? Miller is a professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association. She is the identical twin sister of fellow WNBA player Kelly Miller ....
   & Kelly Miller
  Kelly Miller (basketball player)
  
  Kelly Miller is a professional basketball player currently playing for the Minnesota Lynx. She is the identical twin sister of fellow WNBA player Coco Miller....
  , basketball
• 2000 - Rulon Gardner
  Rulon Gardner
  
  Rulon Gardner is an sport wrestling in the Greco-Roman wrestling discipline from the United States, most notable for his gold medal in the 2000 Olympics after defeating Russian Alexander Karelin, who was previously undefeated in 13 years of international competition....
  , wrestling
• 2001 - Michelle Kwan
  Michelle Kwan
  
  Michelle Wingshan Kwan is an American figure skating. She has won nine United States Figure Skating Championships, five World Figure Skating Championships, and two Figure skating at the Olympics....
  , figure skating
• 2002 - Sarah Hughes
  Sarah Hughes
  
  Sarah Elizabeth Hughes is an United States figure skater. She is the Figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Her younger sister Emily Hughes is also a senior-level figure skater....
  , figure skating
• 2003 - 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
• 2004 - Paul Hamm
  Paul Hamm
  
  Paul Elbert Hamm is an United States artistic gymnastics. He is a World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics....
  , gymnastics
• 2005 - J.J. Redick
  J.J. Redick
  
  Jonathan Clay "J. J." Redick is an American professional basketball player at the shooting guard position. He was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA Draft....
  , basketball
• 2006 - Jessica Long
  Jessica Long
  
  Jessica Long is a United States Paralympic swimmer....
  , paralympic swimming
• 2007 - Tim Tebow
  Tim Tebow
  
  Timothy "Tim" Richard Tebow is an American football quarterback for the Florida Gators football. He was the first college football player to both rush and Forward pass for 20 touchdowns in a season and was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy....
  , football

External links