Mikaela Shiffrin Wins Female Athlete Of Year At ESPY Awards

This article originally appeared on Ski Mag

Last night at the ESPY awards Mikaela Shiffrin was awarded the coveted Best Female Athlete of the Year.

Tuesday's award for Shiffrin was another well-deserved accolade in the skier's record-breaking season after winning her 87th world cup race back in March, and then onto the overall season title. The award ceremony is a yearly event and the name stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award.

"This season was absolutely incredible and there was a lot of talk about records and it got me thinking, why is a record actually important?" Shiffrin said as she reflected on the past few months, "I just feel like it's not important to break records or re-set records. It's important to set the tone for the next generation, to inspire them."

And while she is undeniably a G.O.A.T-status athlete, Shiffrin would prefer if the media referred to her otherwise, because as she noted in an interview earlier this year, the term makes her think of "cute, frolicking baby animals."

This is not Shiffrin's first time being nominated for the award, but it is her first time claiming the victory. It’s also not the first time a female skier has won the award, with Lindsey Vonn clinching the title in 2010 and 2011.

Sharing the podium with Shiffrin was the Best Male Athlete, awarded to Patrick Mahomes, the two-time Super Bowl champion and quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes was also awarded the NFL Player of the Year and shared the award with his team for the Best Team Award. Other notable wins came from Lebron James winning Best Record-Breaking Performance, and the Buffalo Bills training staff winning the Pat Tillman Award for Service.

And, as many refer to the ESPYS as the “Oscars as sports” we here at Ski Mag would have to agree, we think Shiffrin’s skiing is an Oscar-worthy performance every time.

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