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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Arthur Ashe Courage Award
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award (sometimes called the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage or Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award) is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions, as it is presented annually to individuals whose contributions "transcend sports". According to ESPN, the organization responsible for giving out the award, "recipients reflect the spirit of Arthur Ashe, possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost". The award was presented as part of the ESPY Awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2019. The 2020 ESPYs ceremony was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Ashe Award being one of the few awards presented, and the 2021 ceremony was held in New York City.

The inaugural award, made at the 1993 ESPY Awards, was presented to the American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster Jim Valvano. In 1993, ESPN partnered with Valvano to create the V Foundation which presents the annual Jimmy V Award to "a deserving member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through perseverance and determination." Suffering from cancer, Valvano gave the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage Award acceptance speech which "brought a howling, teary-eyed Madison Square Garden to its feet". Valvano died two months after receiving the award. Although the award is usually given to individuals, it has been presented to multiple recipients on seven occasions: former athletes on United Airlines Flight 93 (2002), Pat and Kevin Tillman (2003), Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and Jim MacLaren (2005), Roia Ahmad and Shamila Kohestani (2006), Trevor Ringland and David Cullen (2007), and Tommie Smith, John Carlos (2008), and survivors of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal (2018). The accolade has been presented posthumously on five occasions.

The award has not been without controversy: in June 2015, ESPN's announcement of Caitlyn Jenner as the recipient of that year's Arthur Ashe Courage Award led to significant criticism among online commenters and some members of the media, with Bob Costas calling the decision to give Jenner the award a "crass exploitation play". Many critics of the Jenner award considered Lauren Hill, who played college basketball despite suffering from a brain tumor that would claim her life only a few months later, a more worthy recipient. Others cited Noah Galloway, an Iraq War double amputee who competes in extreme sports and was also a finalist in the 20th season of Dancing with the Stars in 2015, as a worthy candidate.

Recipients

Key
† Indicates posthumous award
Arthur Ashe Courage Award recipients
Year Image Recipient(s) Notes Ref(s)
1993 Jim Valvano Jim Valvano American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster, died from adenocarcinoma
1994 – Steve Palermo Major League Baseball umpire paralysed from the waist down after attempting to prevent a mugging
1995 Howard Cosell in 1975 Howard Cosell Journalist, creator of ABC SportsBeat, the first serious investigative sports journalist program
1996 – Loretta Claiborne Multi-sports Special Olympics athlete
1997 Muhammad Ali in 2006 Muhammad Ali Boxer, an example of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the civil rights movement
1998 Dean Smith in 2007 Dean Smith College basketball coach for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1999 Billie Jean King in 2016 Billie Jean King Tennis player, campaigned for equal prize money in both men's and women's tennis
2000 - William David Sanders† High school sports coach killed defending students during the Columbine High School massacre
2001 Cathy Freeman in 2008 Cathy Freeman Track and field athlete, first Indigenous Australian person to become an Olympic Games gold medallist
2002 Flight 93 National Memorial Todd Beamer†
Mark Bingham†
Tom Burnett†
Jeremy Glick† 		Athletes onboard United Airlines Flight 93 (National Memorial pictured) who tried to reclaim control from the hijackers
2003 Pat Tillman in 2003 Pat Tillman (pictured)
Kevin Tillman 		Pat was an American football player who played for the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL, his brother Kevin a Minor League Baseball player; both enlisted, forgoing their sporting careers
2004 George Weah in 2019 George Weah Association footballer who became a UN Goodwill Ambassador
2005 – Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
Jim MacLaren 		Yeboah brought attention to disabled people in Ghana, himself with a deformed leg, by cycling across the country. McLaren became a successful triathlete after having his leg amputated.
2006 Shamila Kohestani in 2012 Roia Ahmad
Shamila Kohestani (pictured) 		Championing girls' and women's sport, specifically the Afghan women's association football team
2007 David Cullen in 2008 Trevor Ringland
David Cullen (pictured) 		Members of PeacePlayers International which uses basketball to unite and educate children
2008 Tommie Smith and John Carlos in 1968 Tommie Smith
John Carlos 		Olympic track athletes, medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics, who gave the Black Power salute on the podium
2009 Nelson Mandela in 2008 Nelson Mandela South African President, his presentation of the 1995 Rugby World Cup to Francois Pienaar was described as "an iconic moment in sports history"
2010 – Edward Arthur Thomas† High school American football coach, shot and killed by a former student
2011 – Dewey Bozella Boxer, wrongly imprisoned for 26 years
2012 Pat Summit in 2008 Pat Summitt College basketball coach with, as of 2018, the most wins in NCAA basketball history, retired with early-onset Alzheimer's disease
2013 Robin Roberts in 2010 Robin Roberts Broadcaster, increased awareness in bone marrow donation through public coverage of her own illness
2014 Michael Sam in 2008 Michael Sam American football player, first publicly gay player to be drafted in the NFL
2015 Caitlyn Jenner in 2015 Caitlyn Jenner Former Olympic track and field athlete and transgender television personality
2016 Zaevion Dobson† Fifteen-year-old American football player who used his body to shield three girls from a drive-by shooting
2017 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Eunice Kennedy Shriver† Founder of the Special Olympics
2018 The Fierce Five in 2012 Survivors of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal
(The Fierce Five pictured) 		Over 300 girls and women, mostly gymnasts, including but not limited to Rachael Denhollander, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas, and Maggie Nichols, who survived the abuse of Larry Nassar, spoke out about and shined a light on sexual abuse in sports, and demanded change and accountability
2019 Bill Russell Bill Russell First African American coach in NBA history, a role he held while also continuing to play
2020 Kevin Love Kevin Love Advocacy for openness about mental health
2021 Maya Moore Maya Moore Walked away from basketball to help free a wrongfully convicted man.
2022 Vitali Klitschko Vitali Klitschko Defended Ukraine as a soldier along with his brother Wladimir Klitschko and was vocally critical of Vladimir Putin, using his position of mayor (longest serving mayor of Kyiv) to do so
2023 USWNST in 2023 United States women's national soccer team Fought for equal pay
2024 Gleason in 2020 Steve Gleason Advocate for ALS

See also

References

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  40. ^ Terrell, Katherine (June 27, 2024). "Steve Gleason to receive Arthur Ashe Courage Award at 2024 ESPYS". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 11, 2024.

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