The Best Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award was an annual award honoring the achievements of an athlete from the world of
action sports
Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extre ...
.
It was first awarded as part of the
ESPY Awards in the 2002 ceremony.
The Best Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award trophy, created by sculptor
Lawrence Nowlan, was presented to the action sports athlete adjudged to be the best in a given
calendar year
A calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days.
The Gregorian calendar year, which is in use as civil calendar in ...
.
for the award was undertaken by a panel of experts who composed the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.
Through the
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
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.
The inaugural winner of the Best Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award was American snowboarder
Kelly Clark at the 2002 edition.
During 2001 and 2002, she won seven major worldwide snowboarding competitions, which included the gold medal in the
women's halfpipe at the
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...
in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, and first place at the Winter X Games.
Clark became the first female snowboarder to be nominated for, and hence to win, an ESPY Award.
Americans won both times the accolade was given out with fellow snowboarder
Shaun White
Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X ...
being voted the only male winner of the award at the 2003 ceremony.
The Best Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award was by gender in 2004, since which year
Best Female Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award and the
Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award have been presented.
Winners and nominees
See also
*
Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Action Sports Athlete Espy Award
ESPY Awards
Awards established in 2002
Awards disestablished in 2003
2002 establishments in the United States
2003 disestablishments in the United States