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Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award

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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]

Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award
Awarded forbest national or international breakthrough in the world of individual and team sports
LocationDolby Theatre, Los Angeles (2023)
Presented byESPN
First awarded1993
Currently held byJuJu Watkins (USA)
Websitewww.espn.co.uk/espys/

The inaugural winner of the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award in 1993 was San Diego Padres 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

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Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award winners and nominees
Year Image Athlete Nationality Team Competition Sport Nominees Refs
1993   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   USA Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball Baseball — [11]
1995   Jeff Bagwell   USA Houston Astros Major League Baseball Baseball Ernie Els (  RSA) – Golf
Tommy Moe (  USA) – Skiing 		[12][13]
1996   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   USA — PGA Tour Golf Mariano Rivera (  PAN) – New York Yankees
Alex Rodriguez (  USA) – Seattle Mariners 		[15][16]
1998   Nomar Garciaparra   USA Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball Baseball — [17]
1999   Randy Moss   USA Minnesota Vikings National Football League American football — [18]
2000   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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   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]
2024 JuJu Watkins   USA USC Women's Basketball NCAA Division I Basketball Haleigh Bryant (  USA) – LSU women's gymnastics
C. J. Stroud (  USA) Houston Texans
Victor Wembanyama (  FRA) San Antonio Spurs 		[59]

See also

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Notes and references

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Notes

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  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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  1. ^ a b c "Sheffield gets pardon". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 2, 1993. p. D5. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c Nelson, Murry R. (2013). American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols and Ideas. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 399–401. ISBN 978-0-313-39753-0. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  3. ^ Avard, Christian (August 2, 2013). "Sculptor commissioned to complete Joe Frazier statue has died". Barre Montpelier Times Argus. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "The 2004 ESPY Awards – Fans to decide all 2004 ESPY Award winners". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "Committee is newly found". ESPN. February 3, 1999. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "New categories unveiled for The 2002 ESPY Awards" (Press release). ESPN. 2002. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  7. ^ a b "All-Time ESPY Winners" (Press release). ESPN. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on June 11, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Kent, Milton (February 14, 1996). "Mix of sports, entertainment creates weird alchemy at ESPYs". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Man of the Moment? It Has to Be James". Los Angeles Times. July 17, 2003. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Mathis, Joel (July 16, 2015). "WATCH: Mo'ne Davis Wins "Breakthrough Athlete" ESPY". Philadelphia. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  11. ^ Tolley, Scott (March 5, 1994). "Piazza's strength: A 'throwback mentality'". The Palm Beach Post. p. 9C. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Houston ESPY Award winners". Houston Chronicle. June 25, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  13. ^ "ESPY nominees". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Vol. 101, no. 21. Associated Press. January 21, 1995. p. 7. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ Hobson, Geoff (January 26, 1996). "Blake up for 'ESPY'". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. B6. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Woods, Torre claim ESPYs". The Tennessean. February 11, 1997. p. 2C. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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  22. ^ "OU up for ESPY awards". The Oklahoman. February 11, 2001. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  23. ^ "Absent Woods wins; Venus Williams named best female athlete 3 ESPYs and tennis player". The Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. July 11, 2002. p. D2. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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  25. ^ "Jimmie Johnson nominated for an ESPY". motorsport.com. July 18, 2003. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  26. ^ "Cavs star not upset Boozer has gone". Deseret News. Associated Press. July 17, 2004. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
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  36. ^ Isner, Jessica (July 16, 2009). "Lakers, Jackson Take Home Coveted ESPY Honors". New England Sports Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  37. ^ "Three U.S. Olympic gymnasts nominated for ESPYs; fans may vote until July 11". USA Gymnastics. July 9, 2009. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  38. ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (July 14, 2010). "Chris Johnson wins first ESPY of the night". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on July 16, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
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  40. ^ Tourtellotte, Bob (July 14, 2011). "Mavericks, Nowitzki shine at Espy Awards". Reuters. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  41. ^ Morrison, David (July 13, 2011). "Handicapping the ESPYs: How many awards is Auburn taking home?". Opelika-Auburn News. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  42. ^ Stone, Jeff (July 11, 2012). "Jeremy Lin Rides Linsanity To His ESPY For Breakthrough Player Of The Year". International Business Times. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  43. ^ Koenig, Alexander (June 28, 2012). "Jeremy Lin up for ESPY Award". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  44. ^ "Kaepernick Wins Breakthrough Athlete Trophy At ESPY Awards". KPIX-TV. Associated Press. July 18, 2013. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  45. ^ Williams, Doug (July 17, 2013). "Kaepernick a Candidate for ESPYs' Best Breakthrough Athlete". KNTV. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  46. ^ C. Anderson, Erik (July 17, 2014). "Seattle Seahawks, Richard Sherman win ESPY Awards". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  47. ^ Eaton, Nick (June 24, 2014). "Seahawks' Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, Pete Carroll nominated for ESPY awards". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  48. ^ Landis, Bill (June 24, 2015). "Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Cardale Jones and wrestler Logan Stieber nominated for ESPY Awards". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
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  52. ^ Klinger, Jacob (July 12, 2017). "Christian Pulisic is up for an ESPY". The Patriot-News. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
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  54. ^ A. Erickson, Joel (June 20, 2018). "Alvin Kamara nominated for ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete". New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  55. ^ Schneier, Dan (July 11, 2019). "Saquon Barkley wins 'Best Breakthrough Athlete' at ESPY awards". 247Sports.com. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  56. ^ "LaMelo Ball named Best Breakthrough Athlete at 2021 ESPY Awards". NBA.com. July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  57. ^ "2022 ESPYS: Full list of award winners". ESPN.com. July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  58. ^ "2023 ESPYS: Full list of award winners". ESPN.com. July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  59. ^ "2024 ESPYS: Here is the list of winners". ESPN.com. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
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