Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award

Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award
Awarded forbest disabled female athlete
CountryUnited States
Presented byESPN
First awarded2005
Currently held byJessica Long (USA)
Websitewww.espn.co.uk/espys/

The Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the community of disabled sports.[1] Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States Paralympic soccer player Eli Wolff,[2] the accolade's trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan,[3] is presented to the disabled sportswomen adjudged to be the best at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.[1] The Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was first bestowed as part of the ESPY Awards in 2005 after the non-gender specific Best Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award was presented the previous three years (all won by sportsmen).[4][5] Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts.[1] It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.[6]

The inaugural winner of the Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award at the 2005 ceremony was an American swimmer named Erin Popovich, who is affected by achondroplasia. She won seven gold medals at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.[7] She is one of three people to have won the Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award more than once, winning again at the 2009 awards.[8] Fellow swimmer Jessica Long has the most victories of any other sportswoman, collecting the award four times at the 2007, 2012, 2013 and 2022 ESPY Awards, with one further nomination at the 2009 ESPY Awards,[8][9][10] while cross-country skier Oksana Masters has been nominated the most times (eight) without winning. Swimmers have been successful at the awards with nine victories and 13 nominations, followed by paratriathles with three wins and nine nominations. It was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] The incumbent holder is American paralympic swimmer Jessica Long after being announced as the winner at the 2022 ESPY Awards.[12]

  1. ^ 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 April 11, 2018 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Darcy, Simon; Frawley, Stephen; Adair, Daryl, eds. (February 8, 2017). Managing the Paralympics. London, England: Palgrave Macmillan. p. XV. ISBN 978-1-137-43522-4. Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018 – via Google Books.
  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 April 11, 2018.
  4. ^ Keith, Branden (June 24, 2014). "No Swimmers Nominated for 2014 ESPY Awards". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  5. ^ "Kyle Maynard wins second ESPY". Gwinnett Daily Post. July 10, 2012. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "New categories unveiled for The 2002 ESPY Awards" (Press release). ESPN. 2002. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Popovich2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 2009Popovich was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Long2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Long2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Messer, Lesley (June 19, 2020). "7 ways the 2020 ESPYS will be different amid the pandemic". Good Morning America. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2021Winner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).