USOC Athlete of the Year

The USOPC Athlete of the Year (historically USOC Athlete of the Year) awards are part of a series of awards presented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee to athletes who have distinguished themselves in one of the Olympic or Paralympic sports. Awards are presented to the Olympic or Paralympic SportsMan of the Year, SportsWoman of the Year, and Team of the Year.

Historically, all awards were presented annually. Starting in 2014, the award structure was changed as follows:

• Performances by the best athletes and teams in the Olympics and Paralympics are honored with the Team USA Awards—Athlete of the Olympic Games (both male and female), Team of the Olympic Games, Athlete of the Paralympic Games (both male and female), and Team of the Paralympic Games. These are presented in Olympic and Paralympic years (normally even-numbered, though the 2020 Summer Olympics have been delayed to 2021).
• The Athlete of the Year, Paralympian of the Year, and Team of the Year awards are presented in other years.

Nominees for each award are submitted by the national governing bodies of Olympic, Paralympic, and Pan American Games sports, and by their affiliated able-bodied and disabled sports organizations. Winners are selected by a vote of the USOPC awards committee, consisting of USOPC representatives, media representatives, and Olympic athletes.

The SportsMan and SportsWoman of the Year awards were first presented in 1974; the Team of the Year award was added in 1996 and the Paralympian of the Year award was added in 2004. The Paralympian award was subdivided into men's and women's awards in 2009, with the Paralympic Team of the Year award added at that time.