The Hindu : Sport : ESPY hat-trick for Lance Armstrong

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 15, 2005

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

ESPY hat-trick for Lance Armstrong

LOS ANGELES: Cyclist Lance Armstrong won the male athlete of the year for the third consecutive time, and golfer Annika Sorenstam earned female athlete honours on Wednesday at the 13th annual ESPY Awards.

"I do set some lofty goals and I'm very happy with what I've done," said Sorenstam, who has won two of the year's first three LPGA Majors.

Tiger Woods returned to his winning ways after being shut out last year for the first time since 1999. He won the best golfer award, his record 16th honour at the made-for-TV awards.

Sorenstam's victory gave her seven career ESPYs, breaking a tie with Barry Bonds for second on the all-time list.

She beat out former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin and LSU basketball star Seimone Augustus.

"I had my fingers crossed. I knew it was going to be tough," said Sorenstam, dressed in a V-neck long black dress. "Good looks don't hurt the sport."

Jackson's second one

Australia's Lauren Jackson won her second consecutive ESPY as best player in the WNBA. The Seattle Storm centre will line up in the WNBA All-Star game on Saturday.

Actor Matthew Perry, once a nationally ranked Canadian junior tennis player, hosted the show from the Kodak Theatre.

Armstrong is currently in France attempting to win a record seventh consecutive Tour de France before retiring.

He won over Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, golfer Vijay Singh, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and Olympic skier Bode Miller.

Sweet double

Armstrong, Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling and Manning were the only double winners among 36 categories.

Armstrong also received the professional grade play award. Schilling won championship performance honours for his 3-1 record in postseason play on an injured ankle that later required surgery, and shared best team honours with his baseball World Series champion the Boston Red Sox teammates.

Schilling and the Red Sox president Larry Lucchino accepted the team award, with Schilling intently watching a large screen on stage showing Boston fans celebrating on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

Lucchino salutes fans

Lucchino saluted the fans, saying, "We owe them a great deal and we are very proud and we want to say thank you for their enduring loyalty."

The Red Sox defeated the New England Patriots and three other teams in their category.

Manning won as the best NFL player and record-breaking performance for throwing 49 touchdown passes last season.

Bill Belichick of the Patriots was chosen best coach-manager.

Two athletes who recently retired were also honoured. Mia Hamm was named best soccer player, and Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers won best moment for his final NBA game.

Fans voting on the Internet chose Game 5 of the American League championship series between the Red Sox and New York Yankees as the best game.

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award, announced earlier, went to disabled athletes Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and Jim MacLaren.

The list:

Male athlete: Lance Armstrong

Female athlete: Annika Sorenstam

Driver: Michael Schumacher

Golfer: Tiger Woods

Soccer player: Mia Hamm

Female tennis player: Maria Sharapova

Male tennis player: Roger Federer

Boxer: Bernard Hopkins

Female Olympic performance: U.S. softball team