Associated Press Athlete of the Year

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 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, have been Americans (this bias is also reflected in the list of recipients of the Sportsman of the Year award given by the American magazine Sports Illustrated). However, non-Americans are also eligible for the honor, and have won on a few occasions, but the list of recipients reflects the award's American perspective.

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	Major League Baseball	Helene Madison	Swimming
1932	Gene Sarazen	PGA golf	Babe Didrikson	Track and field
1933	Carl Hubbell	Major League Baseball	Helen Jacobs	Tennis
1934	Dizzy Dean	Major League Baseball	Virginia Van Wie	Golf
1935	Joe Louis	Boxing	Helen Wills Moody	Tennis
1936	Jesse Owens	Track and field	Helen Stephens	Track and field
1937	Don Budge	Tennis	Katherine Rawls	Swimming
1938	Don Budge	Tennis	Patty Berg	Golf
1939	Nile Kinnick	College football	Alice Marble	Tennis
1940	Tom Harmon	College football	Alice Marble	Tennis
1941	Joe DiMaggio	Major League Baseball	Betty Hicks Newell	Golf
1942	Frank Sinkwich	College football	Gloria Callen	Swimming
1943	Gunder Hägg	Track and field	Patty Berg	Golf
1944	Byron Nelson	PGA golf	Ann Curtis	Swimming
1945	Byron Nelson	PGA golf	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	Golf
1946	Glenn Davis	College football	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	Golf
1947	Johnny Lujack	College football	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	Golf
1948	Lou Boudreau	Major League Baseball	Fanny Blankers-Koen	Track and field
1949	Leon Hart	College football	Marlene Bauer	Golf
1950	Jim Konstanty	Major League Baseball	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	LPGA golf[1]
1951	Dick Kazmaier	College football	Maureen Connolly	Tennis
1952	Bob Mathias	Track and field	Maureen Connolly	Tennis
1953	Ben Hogan	PGA golf	Maureen Connolly	Tennis
1954	Willie Mays	Major League Baseball	Babe Didrikson Zaharias	LPGA golf
1955	Howard "Hopalong" Cassady	College football	Patty Berg	LPGA golf
1956	Mickey Mantle	Major League Baseball	Pat McCormick	Diving
1957	Ted Williams	Major League Baseball	Althea Gibson	Tennis
1958	Herb Elliott	Track and field	Althea Gibson	Tennis
1959	Ingemar Johansson	Boxing	Maria Bueno	Tennis
1960	Rafer Johnson	Track and field	Wilma Rudolph	Track and field
1961	Roger Maris	Major League Baseball	Wilma Rudolph	Track and field
1962	Maury Wills	Major League Baseball	Dawn Fraser	Swimming
1963	Sandy Koufax	Major League Baseball	Mickey Wright	LPGA golf
1964	Don Schollander	Swimming	Mickey Wright	LPGA golf
1965	Sandy Koufax	Major League Baseball	Kathy Whitworth	LPGA golf
1966	Frank Robinson	Major League Baseball	Kathy Whitworth	LPGA golf
1967	Carl Yastrzemski	Major League Baseball	Billie Jean King	Tennis
1968	Denny McLain	Major League Baseball	Peggy Fleming	Figure skating
1969	Tom Seaver	Major League Baseball	Debbie Meyer	Swimming
1970	George Blanda	National Football League	Chi Cheng	Track and field
1971	Lee Trevino	PGA golf	Evonne Goolagong	Tennis
1972	Mark Spitz	Swimming	Olga Korbut	Gymnastics
1973	O.J. Simpson	National Football League	Billie Jean King	Tennis
1974	Muhammad Ali	Boxing	Chris Evert	Tennis
1975	Fred Lynn	Major League Baseball	Chris Evert	Tennis
1976	Bruce Jenner	Track and field	Nadia Comaneci	Gymnastics
1977	Steve Cauthen	Horse racing	Chris Evert	Tennis
1978	Ron Guidry	Major League Baseball	Nancy Lopez	LPGA golf
1979	Willie Stargell	Major League Baseball	Tracy Austin	Tennis
1980	U.S. Olympic hockey team	Amateur Ice Hockey	Chris Evert	Tennis
1981	John McEnroe	Tennis	Tracy Austin	Tennis
1982	Wayne Gretzky	NHL ice hockey	Mary Decker	Track and field
1983	Carl Lewis	Track and field	Martina Navratilova	Tennis
1984	Carl Lewis	Track and field	Mary Lou Retton	Gymnastics
1985	Dwight Gooden	Major League Baseball	Nancy Lopez	LPGA golf
1986	Larry Bird	NBA basketball	Martina Navratilova	Tennis
1987	Ben Johnson	Track and field	Jackie Joyner-Kersee	Track and field
1988	Orel Hershiser	Major League Baseball	Florence Griffith Joyner	Track and field
1989	Joe Montana	National Football League	Steffi Graf	Tennis
1990	Joe Montana	National Football League	Beth Daniel	LPGA golf
1991	Michael Jordan	NBA basketball	Monica Seles[2]	Tennis
1992	Michael Jordan	NBA basketball	Monica Seles	Tennis
1993	Michael Jordan	NBA basketball	Sheryl Swoopes	College basketball
1994	George Foreman	Boxing	Bonnie Blair	Speed skating
1995	Cal Ripken, Jr.	Major League Baseball	Rebecca Lobo	College basketball
1996	Michael Johnson	Track and field	Amy Van Dyken	Swimming
1997	Tiger Woods	PGA golf	Martina Hingis	Tennis
1998	Mark McGwire	Major League Baseball	Se Ri Pak	LPGA golf
1999	Tiger Woods	PGA golf	U.S. women's soccer team	soccer
2000	Tiger Woods	PGA golf	Marion Jones	Track and field
2001	Barry Bonds	Major League Baseball	Jennifer Capriati	Tennis
2002	Lance Armstrong	Cycling	Serena Williams	Tennis
2003	Lance Armstrong	Cycling	Annika Sörenstam	LPGA golf
2004	Lance Armstrong	Cycling	Annika Sörenstam	LPGA golf
2005	Lance Armstrong	Cycling	Annika Sörenstam	LPGA golf
2006	Tiger Woods	PGA golf	Lorena Ochoa	LPGA golf
2007	Tom Brady	National Football League	Lorena Ochoa	LPGA golf
2008	Michael Phelps	Swimming	Candace Parker	WNBA

Notes and references

• Adapted from the article Associated Press Athlete of the Year, from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.