Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award
# Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award

The Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male individual from the world of disabled sports. Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States Paralympic soccer player Eli Wolff, the accolade's trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the disabled sportsman adjudged to be the best at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The Best Male 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). 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. It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months.

The inaugural winner of the Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award in 2005 was Paralympic track and field competitor Marlon Shirley, who won two medals at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and was the first para-athlete to go below eleven seconds in the men's 100-meter category with a time of 10.97 seconds. In 2015, South African wheelchair racer Krige Schabort was selected as the recipient of the award. As of 2018, he is the only athlete born outside of the United States to have won the accolade, though three additional foreign sportsmen have earned nominations. Track and field athletes have won more awards than any other sport with four with three triathlon winners and two winners each coming in sledge hockey, mixed martial arts, and wrestling. It was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent winner of the award was American para-swimmer Brad Snyder in 2022.

## Winners and nominees

Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award winners and nominees :

| Year | Image | Athlete | Nationality | Sport | Nominees |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | – | Marlon Shirley | United States | Paralympic track and field | Rudy Garcia-Tolson ( USA) – Swimming Paul Martin ( USA) – Cycling |
| 2006 | – | Bobby Martin | United States | American football | Steve Cook ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Anthony Robles ( USA) – Wrestling |
| 2007 | | Casey Tibbs | United States | Paralympic track and field | Robin Ammerlaan ( NED) – Wheelchair tennis Josh George ( USA) – Paralympic track and field Krige Schabort ( RSA) – Wheelchair racing |
| 2008 | – | Ryan Kocer | United States | Wrestling | Philip Scholz ( USA) – Swimming Matt Scott ( USA) – Wheelchair basketball Marthell Vazquez ( USA) – Soccer |
| 2009 | | Jason P. Lester | United States | Triathlon | Jeremy Campbell ( USA) – Paralympic track and field Will Groulx ( USA – Wheelchair rugby Oscar Pistorius ( RSA) – Paralympic track and field |
| 2010 | | Steve Cash | United States | Sledge hockey | Rudy Garcia-Tolson ( USA) – Triathlon Andy Soule ( USA) – Cross-country skiing |
| 2011 | – | Anthony Robles | United States | Wrestling | Chris Devlin-Young ( USA) – Alpine skiing Aaron Scheidies ( USA) – Triathlon Jerome Singleton ( USA) – Paralympic track and field Steve Wampler ( USA) – Climbing |
| 2012 | | Kyle Maynard | United States | Mixed martial arts | Baxter Humby ( CAN) – Mixed martial arts Raymond Martin ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Oz Sanchez ( USA – Cycling Tyler Walker ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2013 | – | Jeremy Campbell | United States | Paralympic track and field | Jeff Fabry ( USA) – Archery Raymond Martin ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Brad Snyder ( USA) – Swimming Tyler Walker ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2014 | | Declan Farmer | United States | Sledge hockey | Mark Bathum ( USA) – Alpine skiing Raymond Martin ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Mike Shea ( USA) – Snowboarding Evan Strong ( USA) – Boardercross |
| 2015 | – | Krige Schabort | South Africa | Wheelchair racing | Joseph Berenyi ( USA – Cycling Josh Pauls ( USA) – Sledge hockey Mike Shea ( USA) – Snowboarding Andy Soule ( USA) – Cross-country skiing |
| 2016 | | Richard Browne | United States | Paralympic track and field | Joseph Berenyi ( USA) – Cycling Aaron Fotheringham ( USA) – Skateboarding/BMX Nikko Landeros ( USA) – Sledge hockey Brad Snyder ( USA) – Swimming |
| 2017 | | Steve Serio | United States | Wheelchair basketball | Will Groulx ( USA) – Cycling Mike Minor ( USA) – Snowboarding Brad Snyder ( USA) – Swimming Roderick Townsend-Roberts ( USA) – Paralympic track and field |
| 2018 | – | Mike Schultz | United States | Snowboarding | Daniel Cnossen ( USA) – Biathlon Declan Farmer ( USA) – Sledge hockey Andrew Kurka ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2019 | – | Mark Barr | United States | Triathlon | Declan Farmer ( USA) – Sledge hockey Daniel Romanchuk ( USA) – Marathon Oz Sanchez ( USA) – Cycling |
| 2020 | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | – | Chris Nikic | United States | Triathlon | Evan Austin ( USA) – Swimming Jesse Billauer ( USA) – Surfing Keith Gabel ( USA) – Snowboarding |
| 2022 | – | Brad Snyder | United States | Swimming | Declan Farmer ( USA) – Sledge hockey Nick Mayhugh ( USA) – Paralympic track and field Ian Seidenfeld ( USA) – Para table tennis |

## Statistics

Multiple winners and nominees :

| Name | Wins | Nominations |
| - | - | - |
| Jeremy Campbell | 1 | 2 |
| Anthony Robles | 1 | 2 |
| Declan Farmer | 1 | 4 |
| Krige Schabort | 1 | 2 |
| Mark Barr | 1 | 1 |
| Raymond Martin | 0 | 3 |
| Brad Snyder | 0 | 3 |
| Joseph Berenyi | 0 | 2 |
| Rudy Garcia-Tolson | 0 | 2 |
| Will Groulx | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Shea | 0 | 2 |
| Andy Soule | 0 | 2 |
| Tyler Walker | 0 | 2 |

Winners by sport :

| Sport | Winners | Nominations |
| - | - | - |
| Paralympic track and field | 4 | 10 |
| Triathlon | 3 | 5 |
| Sledge hockey | 2 | 7 |
| Mixed martial arts | 2 | 3 |
| Wrestling | 2 | 3 |
| Swimming | 1 | 6 |
| Snowboarding | 1 | 5 |
| Wheelchair racing | 1 | 5 |
| Wheelchair basketball | 1 | 2 |
| American football | 1 | 1 |
| Alpine skiing | 0 | 5 |
| Cycling | 0 | 6 |
| Cross-country skiing | 0 | 3 |
| Archery | 0 | 1 |
| Biathlon | 0 | 1 |
| Boardercross | 0 | 1 |
| Marathon | 0 | 1 |
| Soccer | 0 | 1 |
| Surfing | 0 | 1 |
| Table tennis | 0 | 1 |
| Wheelchair rugby | 0 | 1 |
| Wheelchair tennis | 0 | 1 |
