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Home > Sportsman of the Year

Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." The award's trophy, a ceramic urn depicting Greek athletes, has been given to the following recipients:

Year Winner Sport Achievement
1954 Roger Bannister Track and field First sub-four-minute mile
1955 Johnny Podres Baseball World Series MVP
1956 Bobby Joe Morrow Track and field Double Olympic gold medalist
1957 Stan Musial Baseball National League batting champion
1958Events January January 1 Treaty of Rome founding the EU is implemented January 4 Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4 1957) January 8 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship January 18 Armed Lumbee Nat Rafer JohnsonRafer Lewis Johnson (born August 18, 1935) is a former American decathlete. Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but moved to Kingsburg, California at age 9. In high school, he played on the school's football, baseball and basketball teams. As a versatil Track and field DecathlonA decathlon is a sportive contest made up of 10 events. The term decathlon usually refers to an athletic (track and field) event. Normally occurring over two days, the event pushes athletes to their limits. Day 1: 100 m long jump shot put high jump 400 m world record
1959Events January-February January 1 Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin. January 1 Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance January 2 CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Bac Ingemar JohanssonIngemar Johansson (born 22 September 1932) was a Swedish heavyweight boxer. He defeated Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, Johansson won the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year in 1959 and was named the BoxingBoxer redirects here; for other meanings of boxer see Boxer (disambiguation). In computer science, boxing is a way to wrap primitive types over object types. See object type. Boxing is a combat sport. Fighting with the fists for sport and spectacle is pro World heavyweight champion
1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23 Arnold Palmer Golf PGA Player of the Year
1961 Jerry Lucas College Basketball Final Four MVP
1962 Terry Baker College football Heisman Trophy winner
1963 Pete Rozelle Professional football NFL expansion
1964 Ken Venturi Golf US Open Champion
1965 Sandy Koufax Baseball Cy Young Award, Strikeout record
1966 Jim Ryun Track and field Mile world record
1967 Carl Yastrzemski Baseball Triple Crown winner
1968 Bill Russell Professional Basketball NBA champion player-coach
1969 Tom Seaver Baseball Cy Young Award
1970 Bobby Orr Hockey NHL MVP
1971 Lee Trevino Golf PGA Player of the Year
1972 Billie Jean King Tennis Three major titles
  John Wooden College Basketball NCAA champion coach
1973 Jackie Stewart Auto racing Formula One World Champion
1974 Muhammad Ali Boxing World heavyweight champion
1975 Pete Rose Baseball World Series MVP
1976 Chris Evert Tennis Two major titles
1977 Steve Cauthen Horse racing Most Outstanding Jockey
1978 Jack Nicklaus Golf British Open champion
1979 Terry Bradshaw Professional football Super Bowl MVP
  Willie Stargell Baseball World Series MVP
1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team Hockey Olympic gold medalists
1981 Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing World welterweight champion
1982 Wayne Gretzky Hockey NHL MVP
1983 Mary Decker Track and field Double world champion
1984 Edwin Moses Track and field Olympic gold medalist
  Mary Lou Retton Gymnastics Olympic gold medalist
1985 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Professional Basketball Playoff MVP
1986 Joe Paterno College football NCAA champion coach
1987 "Athletes Who Care":    
  Bob Bourne Hockey Helped handicapped children's school
  Judi Brown King Track and field Helped abused children
  Kip Keino Track and field Cared for orphaned children
  Dale Murphy Baseball Charity spokesman
  Chip Rives College football Helped needy children
  Patty Sheehan Golf Helped abused girls
  Rory Sparrow Professional Basketball Helped school children
  Reggie Williams Professional football Helped high school students
1988 Orel Hershiser Baseball Cy Young Award, World Series MVP
1989 Greg LeMond Cycling Tour de France winner
1990 Joe Montana Professional football Three-time Super Bowl MVP
1991 Michael Jordan Professional Basketball NBA MVP
1992 Arthur Ashe Tennis Supported humanitarian causes
1993 Don Shula Professional football Winningest NFL coach
1994 Bonnie Blair Speed skating Double Olympic gold medalist
  Johann Olav Koss Speed skating Triple Olympic gold medalist
1995 Cal Ripken, Jr. Baseball Consecutive games record
1996 Tiger Woods Golf US Amateur, NCAA champion
1997 Dean Smith College Basketball Winningest college coach
1998 Mark McGwire Baseball Single-season home run record
  Sammy Sosa Baseball National League MVP
1999 U.S. Women's Soccer Team Soccer World Cup champions
2000 Tiger Woods Golf Three major titles
2001 Curt Schilling Baseball Co-World Series MVP
  Randy Johnson Baseball Cy Young Award, Co-World Series MVP
2002 Lance Armstrong Cycling Tour de France winner
2003 David Robinson Professional Basketball Two-time NBA champion
  Tim Duncan Professional Basketball NBA MVP, Playoff MVP


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Topics: Sportsman Of The Year, Sportsmanship...

SportsmanshipSportsmanship is, in a basic sense, conforming to the rules of sport, more grandly it may be considered the ethos of sport . It is interesting that the motivation for sport is often an elusive element. For example, beginners in sailing are often told thatSportsman of the YearSince its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement. The award's trophy, , has beenSportsman's ParkSportsman's Park was the name of a former Major League Baseball stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Until 1953 it was the home field of both the St. Louis Browns of the American League and the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, after which the Browns
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