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Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award
Awarded forbest national or international breakthrough in the world of individual and team sports
Location Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles ( 2023)
Presented by ESPN
First awarded1993
Currently held by Angel Reese (USA)
Website www.espn.co.uk/espys/

The Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Breakthrough Athlete of the Year ESPY Award, [1] is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual in the world of sports. [2] It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 1993. [2] The Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award trophy, created by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, [3] is awarded to the sportsperson adjudged to have made the greatest breakthrough in a major international individual sport or North American professional team sport. The award is typically given to a sportsperson in his or her rookie season at a given level but may be won by any athlete who in a given year improves his or her performance dramatically or otherwise becomes well-recognized. [2] Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. [4] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. [5] Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous. [a] [6]

The inaugural winner of the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award in 1993 was San Diego Pardres outfielder Gary Sheffield. [1] [7] The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo of Japan received the trophy in 1996, [8] and is one of two sports persons born outside of the United States to have received the award, the other being Dominican Republican left fielder and second baseman Alfonso Soriano of the New York Yankees in 2003. Additionally, 2022 winner Eileen Gu was born in America, but competed for China. [9] Gu is one of two women to win the award, the other being Mo'ne Davis of the Little League Baseball team Anderson Monarchs in 2015. [10] American football players have been most successful at the awards with eleven victories and thirteen nominations, followed by baseball players with eight wins and ten nominations. No athlete has ever won the accolade more than once. The award was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winners and nominees

Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award winners and nominees
Year Image Athlete Nationality Team Competition Sport Nominees Refs
1993 Gary Sheffield holding his baseball helmet at a game in 2005 Gary Sheffield   USA San Diego Padres Major League Baseball Baseball Fred Couples (  USA) – Golf
Jim Courier (  USA) – Tennis
Barry Foster (  USA) – Pittsburgh Steelers
[1] [7]
1994 Mike Piazza before the start of the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame Mike Piazza   USA Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball Baseball [11]
1995 Jeff Bagwell walking on a baseball pitch in 2009 Jeff Bagwell   USA Houston Astros Major League Baseball Baseball Ernie Els (  RSA) – Golf
Tommy Moe (  USA) – Skiing
[12] [13]
1996 Hideo Nomo at a baseball training pitch in 2011 Hideo Nomo   JPN Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball Baseball Jeff Blake (  USA) – Cincinnati Bengals
Martin Brodeur (  CAN) – New Jersey Devils
[8] [14]
1997 Tiger Woods speaking to the media at a press conference in 2009 Tiger Woods   USA PGA Tour Golf Mariano Rivera (  PAN) – New York Yankees
Alex Rodriguez (  USA) – Seattle Mariners
[15] [16]
1998 Nomar Garciaparra talking to a journalist in 2010 Nomar Garciaparra   USA Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball Baseball [17]
1999 Randy Moss before a pre-season game with the New England Patriots in 2009 Randy Moss   USA Minnesota Vikings National Football League American football [18]
2000 Kurt Warner at a pre-game event in 2004 Kurt Warner   USA St. Louis Rams National Football League American football Sergio García (  SPA) – Golf
Serena Williams (  USA) – Tennis
[19] [20]
2001 Daunte Culpepper   USA Minnesota Vikings National Football League American football Rulon Gardner (  USA) – Wrestling
Josh Heupel (  USA) – Oklahoma Sooners
Marat Safin (  RUS) – Tennis
[21] [22]
2002 Tom Brady playing for the New England Patriots in 2011 Tom Brady   USA New England Patriots National Football League American football Kevin Harvick (  USA) – NASCAR
Sarah Hughes (  USA) – Figure skating
Ichiro Suzuki (  JPN) – Seattle Mariners
[23] [24]
2003 Alfonso Soriano in 2006 Alfonso Soriano   DOM New York Yankees Major League Baseball Baseball LeBron James (  USA) – Cleveland Cavaliers
Jimmie Johnson (  USA) – NASCAR
Yao Ming (  CHN) – Houston Rockets
Clinton Portis (  USA) – Denver Broncos
[9] [25]
2004 LeBron James playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006 LeBron James   USA Cleveland Cavaliers National Basketball Association Basketball Freddy Adu (  USA) – Soccer
Carmelo Anthony (  USA) – Denver Nuggets
Jake Delhomme (  USA) – Carolina Panthers
Michelle Wie (  USA) – Golf
[26] [27]
2005 Photographic portrait of Dwyane Wade in 2005 Dwyane Wade   USA Miami Heat National Basketball Association Basketball Danica Patrick (  USA) – IndyCar Series
Ben Roethlisberger (  USA) – Pittsburgh Steelers
Maria Sharapova (  RUS) – Tennis
[28] [29]
2006 Chris Paul playing for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013 Chris Paul   USA New Orleans Hornets National Basketball Association Basketball Kimmie Meissner (  USA) – Figure skating
Alexander Ovechkin (  RUS) – Washington Capitals
Shaun White (  USA) – Snowboarding
[30] [31]
2007 Devin Hester playing for the Chicago Bears in 2008 Devin Hester   USA Chicago Bears National Football League American football Kevin Durant (  USA) – Texas Longhorns
Ryan Howard (  USA) – Philadelphia Phillies
Morgan Pressel (  USA) – Golf
[32] [33]
2008 Adrian Peterson in Minnesota Vikings uniform in 2009 Adrian Peterson   USA Minnesota Vikings National Football League American football Kyle Busch (  USA) – NASCAR
Stephen Curry (  USA) – Davidson Wildcats
Ana Ivanovic (  SER) – Tennis
[34] [35]
2009 Matt Ryan in public in 2015 Matt Ryan   USA Atlanta Falcons National Football League American football Shawn Johnson (  USA) – Gymnastics
Evan Longoria (  USA) – Tampa Bay Rays
Derrick Rose (  USA) – Chicago Bulls
[36] [37]
2010 Chris Johnson sitting on his guard helmet at an American football game in 2010 Chris Johnson   USA Tennessee Titans National Football League American football Brittney Griner (  USA) – Baylor Bears
Stephen Strasburg (  USA) – Washington Nationals
John Wall (  USA) – Kentucky Wildcats
[38] [39]
2011 Blake Griffin playing for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011 Blake Griffin   USA Los Angeles Clippers National Basketball Association Basketball José Bautista (  DOM) – Toronto Blue Jays
Arian Foster (  USA) – Houston Texans
Li Na (  CHN) – Tennis
Cam Newton (  USA) – Auburn Tigers
[40] [41]
2012 Jeremy Lin at the 2012 Time 100 Gala Jeremy Lin   USA New York Knicks National Basketball Association Basketball Anthony Davis (  USA) – Kentucky Wildcats
Robert Griffin III (  USA) – Baylor Bears
Rob Gronkowski (  USA) – New England Patriots
Alex Morgan (  USA) – Soccer
[42] [43]
2013 Colin Kaepernick wearing San Francisco 49ers uniform at a game in 2012 Colin Kaepernick   USA San Francisco 49ers National Football League American football Johnny Manziel (  USA) – Texas A&M Aggies
Yasiel Puig (  CUB) – Los Angeles Dodgers
Mike Trout (  USA) – Los Angeles Angels
Russell Wilson (  USA) – Seattle Seahawks
[44] [45]
2014 Richard Sherman in a preseason game with the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 Richard Sherman   USA Seattle Seahawks National Football League American football Nick Foles (  USA) – Philadelphia Eagles
Damian Lillard (  USA) – Portland Trail Blazers
Masahiro Tanaka (  JPN) – New York Yankees
[46] [47]
2015 Mo'ne Davis attending the 2014 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony Mo'ne Davis   USA Anderson Monarchs Little League Baseball Baseball Odell Beckham Jr. (  USA) – New York Giants
Cardale Jones (  USA) – Ohio State Buckeyes
Jordan Spieth (  USA) – Golf
[10] [48]
2016 Jake Arrieta performing a warmup pitch for the Chicago Cubs in 2018 Jake Arrieta   USA Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball Baseball Karl-Anthony Towns (  USA) – Minnesota Timberwolves
Chloe Kim (  USA) – Snowboarding
Conor McGregor (  IRL) – MMA
[49] [50]
2017 Dak Prescott playing for the Dallas Cowboys in 2017 Dak Prescott   USA Dallas Cowboys National Football League American football Giannis Antetokounmpo (  GRE) – Milwaukee Bucks
Laurie Hernandez (  USA) – Gymnastics
Aaron Judge (  USA) – New York Yankees
Christian Pulisic (  USA) – Soccer
[51] [52]
2018 Donovan Mitchell in a Utah Jazz jersey in 2018 Donovan Mitchell   USA Utah Jazz National Basketball Association Basketball Alvin Kamara (  USA) – New Orleans Saints
Ben Simmons (  AUS) – Philadelphia 76ers
Sloane Stephens (  USA) – Tennis
[53] [54]
2019 Saquon Barkley playing for the New York Giants in 2018 Saquon Barkley   USA New York Giants National Football League American football Naomi Osaka (  JPN) – Tennis
Christian Yelich (  USA) – Milwaukee Brewers
Trae Young (  USA) – Atlanta Hawks
[55]
2020 Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 LaMelo Ball   USA Charlotte Hornets National Basketball Association Basketball Justin Herbert (  USA) – Los Angeles Chargers
Chase Young (  USA) – Washington Football Team
Crystal Dangerfield (  USA) – Minnesota Lynx
[56]
2022 Eileen Gu   CHN Skiing Ja Morant (  USA) – Memphis Grizzlies
Trinity Rodman (  USA) Washington Spirit
Jonathan Taylor (  USA) Indianapolis Colts
[57]
2023 F20230526ES-0294 Angel Reese   USA LSU Women's Basketball NCAA Division I Basketball Caitlin Clark (  USA) – Iowa Women's Basketball
Brock Purdy (  USA) San Francisco 49ers
Julio Rodríguez (  DOM) Seattle Mariners
[58]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Because of the rescheduling of the ESPY Awards ceremony, the award presented in 2002 was given in consideration of performance betwixt February 2001 and June 2002. [6]

References

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External links