Associated Press Athlete of the Year
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Associated Press Athlete of the Year
American annual sports award
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
Cycling
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
Don Budge
Tennis
2
1937, 1938
Byron Nelson
Golf
2
1944, 1945
Sandy Koufax
Baseball
2
1963, 1965
Carl Lewis
Track and field
2
1983, 1984
Joe Montana
American football
2
1989, 1990
Michael Phelps
Swimming
2
2008, 2012
List of female award winners
Name
Sport
Awards
Years
Babe Didrikson
Golf
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
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
Golf
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
Simone Biles
Gymnastics
2
2016, 2019
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. Retrieved 2019 .
^ Ferguson, Doug (December 27, 2000). "Year of the Tiger" . Missoulian . Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 15, 2019. Retrieved 2019 .
^ "Barry Bonds Voted The Associated Press Male of the Year" . Jet . 101 (4): 52. January 12, 2002. Retrieved 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 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 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 2019 .
^ "Lance Armstrong wins AP male athlete honours" . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 28, 2005. Retrieved 2019 .
^ "Woods wins AP male athlete award for 2006" . Orlando Sentinel . December 26, 2006. Retrieved 2019 .
^ Flannery, Paul (December 21, 2007). "Tom Brady's Charmed Year Continues" . Boston . Retrieved 2019 .
^ "Michael Phelps Named The Associated Press Top Sports Story, AP Male Athlete of 2008" . Swimming World . December 24, 2008. Retrieved 2019 .
^ "Johnson is AP's top male athlete of '09" . Associated Press (ESPN.com). December 21, 2009. Retrieved .
^ Triplett, Mike (December 18, 2010). "New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees fourth QB to be named AP Athlete of the Year" . The Times-Picayune . Retrieved 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 2019 .
^ "Michael Phelps Named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year" . Swimming World . December 20, 2012. Retrieved 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 2019 .
^ "Madison Bumgarner gets AP honor" . Associated Press (via ESPN.com). December 30, 2014. Retrieved 2014 .
^ "Archived copy" . Archived from the original on 2014-12-30. Retrieved .CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link )
^ Herbert, James (December 26, 2015). "Warriors' Stephen Curry named AP Male Athlete of the Year" . CBS Sports . Retrieved 2019 .
^ Withers, Tom (December 27, 2016). "Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James named AP Male Athlete of Year" . The News-Herald . Associated Press. Retrieved 2019 .
^ "Astros star Jose Altuve named AP Male Athlete of the Year" . ESPN.com . Associated Press. December 27, 2017. Retrieved 2017 .
^ Beth Harris (2017-12-26). "Katie Ledecky Swims to AP Female Athlete of the Year Honors" . The Washington Post . Associated Press. Retrieved .
^ Holleran, Andrew (December 27, 2018). "Associated Press Names Its 2018 Male Athlete Of The Year" . thespun.com . Retrieved 2019 .
^ Mahoney, Brian (December 26, 2018). "Serena voted AP Female Athlete of the Year for 5th time" . The Associated Press. Retrieved 2019 .
^ "Kawhi Leonard and Simone Biles Are AP's Athletes of the Year" . complex.com . December 28, 2019. Retrieved 2019 .
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