United Press International Athlete of the Year Award
The United Press International Athlete of the Year Award was conferred annually between
editors constituted under the auspices of the United Press International.[1]
Male winners
| Year | Athlete
|
Nation represented | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Muhammad Ali |  United States
|
Boxing |
| 1975 | João Carlos de Oliveira |  Brazil
|
Athletics
|
| 1976 | Alberto Juantorena |  Cuba
|
Athletics
|
| 1977 | Alberto Juantorena | Cuba
|
Athletics
|
| 1978 | Henry Rono |  Kenya
|
Athletics
|
| 1979 | Sebastian Coe |  United Kingdom
|
Athletics
|
| 1980 | Eric Heiden | United States
|
Speed skating |
| 1981 | Sebastian Coe | United Kingdom
|
Athletics
|
| 1982 | Daley Thompson | United Kingdom
|
Athletics
|
| 1983 | Carl Lewis | United States
|
Athletics
|
| 1984 | Carl Lewis | United States
|
Athletics
|
| 1985 | Steve Cram | United Kingdom
|
Athletics
|
| 1986[2] | Diego Maradona |  Argentina
|
Football
|
| 1987 | Ben Johnson |  Canada
|
Athletics
|
| 1988 | Matt Biondi | United States
|
Swimming |
| 1989 | Boris Becker |  West Germany
|
Tennis |
| 1990 | Stefan Edberg |  Sweden
|
Tennis |
| 1991 | Sergey Bubka |  Soviet Union
|
Athletics
|
| 1992 | Kevin Young
|
United States
|
Athletics
|
| 1993 | Miguel Indurain
|
 Spain
|
Road cycling |
| 1994 | Johann Olav Koss |  Norway
|
Speed skating |
| 1995 | Jonathan Edwards | United Kingdom
|
Athletics
|
Female winners
| Year | Athlete
|
Nation represented | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Irena Szewińska |  Poland
|
Athletics
|
| 1975 | Nadia Comăneci |  Romania
|
Artistic gymnastics |
| 1976 | Nadia Comăneci | Romania
|
Artistic gymnastics |
| 1977 | Rosemarie Ackermann |  East Germany
|
Athletics
|
| 1978 | Tracy Caulkins | United States
|
Swimming |
| 1979 | Marita Koch | East Germany
|
Athletics
|
| 1980 | Hanni Wenzel |  Liechtenstein
|
Alpine skiing |
| 1981 | Chris Evert Lloyd | United States
|
Tennis |
| 1982 | Marita Koch | East Germany
|
Athletics
|
| 1983 | Jarmila Kratochvílová |  Czechoslovakia
|
Athletics
|
| 1984 | Martina Navratilova | United States
|
Tennis |
| 1985 | Mary Decker Slaney
|
United States
|
Athletics
|
| 1986 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany
|
Athletics
|
| 1987 | Steffi Graf | West Germany
|
Tennis |
| 1988 | Florence Griffith-Joyner
|
United States
|
Athletics
|
| 1989 | Steffi Graf | West Germany
|
Tennis |
| 1990 | Merlene Ottey |  Jamaica
|
Athletics
|
| 1991 | Monica Seles |  SFR Yugoslavia
|
Tennis |
| 1992 | Monica Seles |  FR Yugoslavia
|
Tennis |
| 1993 | Wang Junxia |  China
|
Athletics
|
| 1994 | Le Jingyi | China
|
Swimming |
| 1995 | Gwen Torrence | United States
|
Athletics
|
Notes
See also
- Athlete of the Year
- Associated Press Athlete of the Year
- Best Female Athlete ESPY Award
- Best Male Athlete ESPY Award
- Sporting News Sportsman/Pro Athlete of the Year
- Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
- Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year (Laureus World Sports Academy)
- Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year
- BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
- L'Équipe Champion of Champions Award
References
- editors exclusively from Europe.
- ^ "Maradona polled 149 votes, 34 ahead of world tennis champion Ivan Lendl. Alain Prost of France, the world auto racing champion, placed third with 110". UPI. 19 December 1986.
Bibliography
- Brown, Gerry, and Morrison, Michael (eds.; 2003). ESPN ISBN 0-7868-8715-X.