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Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award

Annual athletic award

Field	Value
name	Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award
awarded_for	best national or international breakthrough in the world of individual and team sports
presenter	ESPN
location	Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles (2023)
year	1993
holder	Ilona Maher (USA)
website

The Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Breakthrough Athlete of the Year ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual in the world of sports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 1993. The Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award trophy, created by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, 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 their rookie season at a given level but may be won by any athlete whose performance dramatically or otherwise becomes well-recognized. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. 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.{{efn|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.

The inaugural winner of the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award in 1993 was San Diego Padres outfielder Gary Sheffield. The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo of Japan received the trophy in 1996, 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. 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. 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

Year	Image	Athlete	Nationality	Team	Competition	Sport	Nominees	Refs
1993	[[File:Gary Sheffield2.jpg	100px	alt=Gary Sheffield holding his baseball helmet at a game in 2005]]	USA	San Diego Padres	Major League Baseball	Baseball	Fred Couples (USA) – Golf
Jim Courier (USA) – Tennis
Barry Foster (USA) – Pittsburgh Steelers	title=Sheffield gets pardon	url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/102137289/	newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer	page=D5	date=March 2, 1993	access-date=June 15, 2018	via=Newspapers.com	url-status=live	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615214358/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/102137289/	archive-date=June 15, 2018	df=mdy-all}}
1994	[[File:Mike Piazza HOF Press Conference.jpg	100px	alt=Mike Piazza before the start of the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame]]	USA	Los Angeles Dodgers	Major League Baseball	Baseball
1995	[[File:Jeff Bagwell 2009 (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Jeff Bagwell walking on a baseball pitch in 2009]]	USA	Houston Astros	Major League Baseball	Baseball	Ernie Els (RSA) – Golf
Tommy Moe (USA) – Skiing	url=http://www.chron.com/sports/slideshow/Houston-ESPY-Award-winners-112288.php	title=Houston ESPY Award winners	newspaper=Houston Chronicle	date=June 25, 2015	access-date=June 15, 2018}}
1996	[[File:野茂英雄20110216.jpg	100px	alt=Hideo Nomo at a baseball training pitch in 2011]]	JPN	Los Angeles Dodgers	Major League Baseball	Baseball	Jeff Blake (USA) –Cincinnati Bengals
Martin Brodeur (CAN) – New Jersey Devils	last=Kent	first=Milton	title=Mix of sports, entertainment creates weird alchemy at ESPYs	url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1996/02/14/mix-of-sports-entertainment-creates-weird-alchemy-at-espys/	newspaper=The Baltimore Sun	date=February 14, 1996	access-date=June 15, 2018	url-status=live	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615214304/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-02-14/sports/1996045056_1_jett-barnett-big-sports-fan	archive-date=June 15, 2018	df=mdy-all}}
1997	[[File:Tiger Woods in 2009.jpg	100px	alt=Tiger Woods speaking to the media at a press conference in 2009]]	USA		PGA Tour	Golf	Mariano Rivera (PAN) – New York Yankees
Alex Rodriguez (USA) – Seattle Mariners
1998	[[File:Nomar Garciaparra IMG 9542 (4308826992).jpg	100px	alt=Nomar Garciaparra talking to a journalist in 2010]]	USA	Boston Red Sox	Major League Baseball	Baseball
1999	[[File:Randy Moss.jpg	100px	alt=Randy Moss before a pre-season game with the New England Patriots in 2009]]	USA	Minnesota Vikings	National Football League	American football
2000	[[File:Kurt Warner 2004-10-07 (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Kurt Warner at a pre-game event in 2004]]	USA	St. Louis Rams	National Football League	American football	Sergio García (SPA) – Golf
Serena Williams (USA) – Tennis
2001		USA	Minnesota Vikings	National Football League	American football	Rulon Gardner (USA) – Wrestling
Josh Heupel (USA) – Oklahoma Sooners
Marat Safin (RUS) – Tennis
2002	[[File:Tom Brady 2011 (cropped).JPG	100px	alt=Tom Brady playing for the New England Patriots in 2011]]	USA	New England Patriots	National Football League	American football	Kevin Harvick (USA) – NASCAR
Sarah Hughes (USA) – Figure skating
Ichiro Suzuki (JPN) – Seattle Mariners
2003	[[File:Soriano3.jpg	100px	alt=Alfonso Soriano in 2006]]	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	url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-17-sp-lebron17-story.html	title=Man of the Moment? It Has to Be James	date=July 17, 2003	newspaper=Los Angeles Times	access-date=June 15, 2018	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618130527/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jul/17/sports/sp-lebron17	archive-date=June 18, 2018	url-status=live}}
2004	[[File:LebronFT (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=LeBron James playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2006]]	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
2005	[[File:Dwyane Wade portrait.jpg	100px	alt=Photographic portrait of Dwyane Wade in 2005]]	USA	Miami Heat	National Basketball Association	Basketball	Danica Patrick (USA) – IndyCar Series
Ben Roethlisberger (USA) – Pittsburgh Steelers
Maria Sharapova (RUS) – Tennis
2006	[[File:Chris Paul new orleans (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Chris Paul playing for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013]]	USA	New Orleans Hornets	National Basketball Association	Basketball	Kimmie Meissner (USA) – Figure skating
Alexander Ovechkin (RUS) – Washington Capitals
Shaun White (USA) – Snowboarding
2007	[[File:Devin Hester (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Devin Hester playing for the Chicago Bears in 2008]]	USA	Chicago Bears	National Football League	American football	Kevin Durant (USA) – Texas Longhorns
Ryan Howard (USA) – Philadelphia Phillies
Morgan Pressel (USA) – Golf
2008	[[File:Adrian Peterson (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Adrian Peterson in Minnesota Vikings uniform in 2009]]	USA	Minnesota Vikings	National Football League	American football	Kyle Busch (USA) – NASCAR
Stephen Curry (USA) – Davidson Wildcats
Ana Ivanovic (SER) – Tennis
2009	[[File:Matt Ryan 2015.jpg	100px	alt=Matt Ryan in public in 2015]]	USA	Atlanta Falcons	National Football League	American football	Shawn Johnson (USA) – Gymnastics
Evan Longoria (USA) – Tampa Bay Rays
Derrick Rose (USA) – Chicago Bulls
2010	[[File:Chris Johnson sitting on his helmet.jpg	100px	alt=Chris Johnson sitting on his guard helmet at an American football game in 2010]]	USA	Tennessee Titans	National Football League	American football	Brittney Griner (USA) – Baylor Bears
Stephen Strasburg (USA) – Washington Nationals
John Wall (USA) – Kentucky Wildcats
2011	[[File:Blake Griffin Los Angeles Clippers.jpg	100px	alt=Blake Griffin playing for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011]]	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
2012	[[File:Jeremy Lin with the Knicks and reporters (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Jeremy Lin at the 2012 Time 100 Gala]]	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
2013	[[File:Colin Kaepernick - San Francisco vs Green Bay 2012.jpg	100px	alt=Colin Kaepernick wearing San Francisco 49ers uniform at a game in 2012]]	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
2014	[[File:Richard Sherman 2015.jpg	100px	alt=Richard Sherman in a preseason game with the Seattle Seahawks in 2015]]	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
2015	[[File:Mo'ne Davis (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Mo'ne Davis attending the 2014 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony]]	USA	Anderson Monarchs	Little League Baseball	Baseball	Odell Beckham Jr. (USA) – New York Giants
Cardale Jones (USA) – Ohio State Buckeyes
Jordan Spieth (USA) – Golf	last=Mathis	first=Joel	title=WATCH: Mo'ne Davis Wins "Breakthrough Athlete" ESPY	url=https://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/07/16/watch-mone-davis-wins-breakthrough-athlete-espy/#iOBGCVesg77kTggy.99	newspaper=Philadelphia	date=July 16, 2015	access-date=June 15, 2018	url-status=live	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002132931/http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/07/16/watch-mone-davis-wins-breakthrough-athlete-espy/#iOBGCVesg77kTggy.99	archive-date=October 2, 2015	df=mdy-all}}
2016	[[File:Jake Arrieta Phillies.jpg	100px	alt=Jake Arrieta performing a warmup pitch for the Chicago Cubs in 2018]]	USA	Chicago Cubs	Major League Baseball	Baseball	Karl-Anthony Towns (USA) – Minnesota Timberwolves
Chloe Kim (USA) – Snowboarding
Conor McGregor (IRL) – MMA
2017	[[File:Dak Prescott vs Redskins 2017 (3).jpg	100px	alt=Dak Prescott playing for the Dallas Cowboys in 2017]]	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	last=Drummond	first=K. D.	title=Cowboys QB Dak Prescott wins Breakthrough Athlete of Year ESPY	url=https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2017/07/12/dallas-cowboys-dak-prescott-espy-breakthrough-athlete-quarterback-rookie-of-the-year/	newspaper=USA Today	date=July 12, 2017	access-date=June 15, 2018	url-status=live	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615215008/https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2017/07/12/dallas-cowboys-dak-prescott-espy-breakthrough-athlete-quarterback-rookie-of-the-year/	archive-date=June 15, 2018	df=mdy-all}}
2018	[[File:Donovan Mitchell Utah 2018 (cropped).jpg	100px	alt=Donovan Mitchell in a Utah Jazz jersey in 2018]]	USA	Utah Jazz	National Basketball Association	Basketball	Alvin Kamara (USA) – New Orleans Saints
Ben Simmons (AUS) – Philadelphia 76ers
Sloane Stephens (USA) – Tennis
2019	[[File:Saquon Barkley Giants 2018.jpg	100px	alt=Saquon Barkley playing for the New York Giants in 2018]]	USA	New York Giants	National Football League	American football	Naomi Osaka (JPN) – Tennis
Christian Yelich (USA) – Milwaukee Brewers
Trae Young (USA) – Atlanta Hawks
2020	Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	[[File:LaMelo Ball Illawarra Hawks (2) (cropped).jpg	100px]]	USA	Charlotte Hornets	National Basketball Association	Basketball	Justin Herbert (USA) – Los Angeles Chargers
Chase Young (USA) – Washington Football Team
Crystal Dangerfield (USA) – Minnesota Lynx
2022	[[File:2020-01-18 Eileen Gu at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics – Women's Freeski Slopestyle – Mascot Ceremony (Martin Rulsch) 18 (cropped).jpg	100px]]	CHN			Skiing	Ja Morant (USA) – Memphis Grizzlies
Trinity Rodman (USA) Washington Spirit
Jonathan Taylor (USA) Indianapolis Colts
2023	[[File:Angel Reese LSU (cropped).jpg	100px]]	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
2024		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
2025	[[File:Ilona Maher (cropped).jpg	100px]]	USA	Bristol Bears	Premiership Women's Rugby	Rugby union	Cooper Flagg (USA) – Duke men's basketball
Chloe Humphrey (USA) – North Carolina women's lacrosse
Paul Skenes (USA) – Pittsburgh Pirates

References

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(July 16, 2025). "Maher Wins ESPY for Best Breakthrough Athlete".

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