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

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. 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 sportswomen adjudged to be the best at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. 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). 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 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. 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. 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, 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. The incumbent holder is American paralympic swimmer Jessica Long after being announced as the winner at the 2022 ESPY Awards.

## Winners and nominees

Key :

| * | Indicates individual whose nomination was withdrawn |
| - | - |

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

| Year | Image | Athlete | Nationality | Sport | Nominees |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | – | Erin Popovich | United States | Swimming | Cheri Blauwet ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Katie Compton ( USA) – Cycling Karissa Whitsell ( USA) – Cycling |
| 2006 | | Sarah Reinertsen | United States | Triathlon | Rachael Scdoris ( USA) – Sled dog racing Laurie Stephens ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2007 | | Jessica Long | United States | Swimming | Amy Palmiero-Winters ( USA) – Triathlon Esther Vergeer ( NED) – Wheelchair tennis Stephani Victor ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2008 | – | Shay Oberg | United States | Softball | Patty Cisneros ( USA) – Wheelchair basketball Jessica Galli ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Susan Beth Scott ( USA) – Swimming |
| 2009 | – | Erin Popovich | United States | Swimming | Jessica Long ( USA) – Swimming Maureen McKinnon-Tucker ( USA) – Yachting Asya Miller ( USA) – Goalball |
| 2010 | – | Amy Palmiero-Winters | United States | Triathlon | Linnea Dohring ( USA) – Gymnastics Alana Nichols ( USA) – Wheelchair basketball Stephani Victor ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2011 | | Mallory Weggemann | United States | Swimming | Allison Jones ( USA) – Cycling Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Alana Nichols ( USA) – Alpine skiing Melissa Stockwell ( USA) – Triathlon |
| 2012 | | Jessica Long | United States | Swimming | Chelsea McClammer ( USA) – Track and field Tatyana McFadden USA) – Wheelchair racing Alana Nichols ( USA) – Alpine skiing Melissa Stockwell ( USA) – Triathlon |
| 2013 | | Jessica Long | United States | Swimming | Victoria Arlen ( USA) – Swimming Marianna Davis ( USA) – Cycling Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Shirley Reilly ( USA) – Wheelchair racing |
| 2014 | – | Jamie Whitmore | United States | Cycling | Minda Dentler ( USA) – Triathlon Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Laurie Stephens ( USA) – Alpine skiing |
| 2015 | – | Rebecca Meyers | United States | Swimming | Kendall Gretsch ( USA) – Triathlon Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Greta Neimanas ( USA) – Cycling |
| 2016 | | Tatyana McFadden | United States | Wheelchair racing | Heather Erickson ( USA) – Volleyball Bethany Hamilton* ( USA) – Surfing Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Shawn Morelli ( USA) – Cycling |
| 2017 | – | Rebecca Meyers | United States | Swimming | Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Shawn Morelli ( USA) – Cycling Grace Norman ( USA) – Triathlon |
| 2018 | – | Brenna Huckaby | United States | Snowboarding | Kendall Gretsch ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing |
| 2019 | | Allysa Seely | United States | Triathlon | Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Tatyana McFadden ( USA) – Wheelchair racing Shawn Morelli ( 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 | – | Rebecca Murray | United States | Wheelchair basketball | Sam Bosco ( USA) – Cycling Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cycling Leanne Smith ( USA) – Swimming |
| 2022 | | Jessica Long | United States | Swimming | Oksana Masters ( USA) – Cross-country skiing Brenna Huckaby ( USA) – Snowboarding Katy Ward ( USA) – Soccer |

## Statistics

Multiple winners and nominees :

| Name | Wins | Nominations |
| - | - | - |
| Jessica Long | 4 | 5 |
| Rebecca Meyers | 2 | 2 |
| Erin Popovich | 2 | 2 |
| Tatyana McFadden | 1 | 9 |
| Amy Palmiero-Winters | 1 | 2 |
| Oksana Masters | 0 | 8 |
| Alana Nichols | 0 | 3 |
| Shawn Morelli | 0 | 2 |
| Laurie Stephens | 0 | 2 |
| Melissa Stockwell | 0 | 2 |
| Stephani Victor | 0 | 2 |

Winners and nominees by sport :

| Sport | Winners | Nominations |
| - | - | - |
| Swimming | 9 | 13 |
| Triathlon | 3 | 9 |
| Wheelchair racing | 1 | 12 |
| Cycling | 1 | 12 |
| Wheelchair basketball | 1 | 2 |
| Snowboarding | 1 | 2 |
| Softball | 1 | 0 |
| Alpine skiing | 0 | 6 |
| Cross-country skiing | 0 | 7 |
| Goalball | 0 | 1 |
| Gymnastics | 0 | 1 |
| Sled dog racing | 0 | 1 |
| Soccer | 0 | 1 |
| Track and field | 0 | 1 |
| Volleyball | 0 | 1 |
| Yachting | 0 | 1 |
