# 2009 ESPY Awards

The 2009 ESPY Awards (for the 2008 Olympics and the 2009) were announced from Nokia Theatre on July 15 and showed during the telecast on ESPN, July 19. It was co-presented by Under Armour and Land Rover.

## Voting

The ESPY nomination show was televised on Friday, June 26, 2009, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Fans voted online at www.espys.tv or via mobile phone at www.espn.mobi. The voting started on June 25 and ended on July 11, 2009.

## Categories

There are 37 categories and 3 special awards. The winners are listed first in bold. Other nominees are in alphabetical order.
| Best Male Athlete | Best Female Athlete |
| Michael Phelps — Swimming Kobe Bryant — NBA Basketball LeBron James — NBA Basketball Jimmie Johnson — Auto Racing | Nastia Liukin — Gymnastics Natalie Coughlin — Swimming Maya Moore — NCAA Basketball Candace Parker — WNBA Basketball Serena Williams — Tennis |
| Best Moment | Best Team |
| US Swim team wins thrilling finish in Olympic relay Tim Tebow’s speech Hélio Castroneves wins the Indy 500 | Los Angeles Lakers Connecticut Huskies women's basketball North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Best Coach-Manager | Best Game |
| Phil Jackson — Los Angeles Lakers Geno Auriemma — Connecticut Huskies women's basketball Dan Bylsma — Pittsburgh Penguins Joe Maddon — Tampa Bay Rays Mike Tomlin — Pittsburgh Steelers | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals, Super Bowl XLIII Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal, 2008 Wimbledon Final Syracuse vs. Connecticut, 2009 Big East Tournament Quarterfinals |
| Best Championship Performance | Best Play |
| Michael Phelps — Swimming Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers Cole Hamels - Philadelphia Phillies Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh — Beach Volleyball | Roethlisberger to Holmes, Super Bowl XLIII Winning Touchdown Alexander Ovechkin vs. New York Rangers Pacquiao KO’s Hatton Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree makes game-winning catch vs. Texas |
| Best Upset | Best Breakthrough Athlete |
| United States Soccer shocks Spain in the Confederations Cup semifinals Mine That Bird Oregon State stuns then #1 USC Trojans Tampa Bay Rays win the American League Championship Series | Matt Ryan — Atlanta Falcons Shawn Johnson — Gymnastics Evan Longoria — Tampa Bay Rays Derrick Rose — Chicago Bulls |
| Best Record Breaking Performance | Best Sports Movie |
| Michael Phelps — Swimming Usain Bolt — Track & Field Larry Fitzgerald — Arizona Cardinals Phil Jackson — Los Angeles Lakers | The Express: The Ernie Davis Story Sugar (2008 film) The Wrestler (2008 film) |
| Best Male College Athlete | Best Female College Athlete |
| Tim Tebow — Florida Gators football Sam Bradford — Oklahoma Sooners football Matt Gilroy — Boston University Hockey Blake Griffin — Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball Stephen Strasburg — San Diego State Baseball | Maya Moore — Connecticut Huskies women's basketball Kerri Hanks — Notre Dame Women's Soccer Courtney Kupets — Georgia Gymnastics Danielle Lawrie — Washington Softball Dana Vollmer — California Swimming |
| Best Male Athlete With A Disability | Best Female Athlete With A Disability |
| Jason Lester — Ironman Jeremy Campbell — Track & Field Will Groulx — Wheelchair Rugby Oscar Pistorius — Track & Field | Erin Popovich — Swimming Jessica Long — Swimming Maureen McKinnon-Tucker — Sailing Asya Miller — Goalball |
| Best Male International Athlete | Best Female International Athlete |
| Usain Bolt ( JAM), Track & Field Pau Gasol ( ESP), Basketball Lionel Messi ( ARG), Soccer Rafael Nadal ( ESP), Tennis Cristiano Ronaldo ( POR), Soccer | Lorena Ochoa ( MEX), Golf Yelena Isinbayeva ( RUS), Pole Vault Marta ( BRA), Soccer Stephanie Rice ( AUS), Swimming Dinara Safina ( RUS), Tennis |
| Best MLB Player | Best NBA Player |
| Albert Pujols — St. Louis Cardinals Roy Halladay — Toronto Blue Jays Ryan Howard — Philadelphia Phillies Dustin Pedroia — Boston Red Sox Francisco Rodriguez — Los Angeles Angels/New York Mets | LeBron James — Cleveland Cavaliers Kobe Bryant — Los Angeles Lakers Dwight Howard — Orlando Magic Dwyane Wade — Miami Heat |
| Best WNBA Player | Best NFL Player |
| Candace Parker — Los Angeles Sparks Deanna Nolan — Detroit Shock Diana Taurasi — Phoenix Mercury Lindsay Whalen — Connecticut Sun | Larry Fitzgerald — Arizona Cardinals James Harrison — Pittsburgh Steelers Peyton Manning — Indianapolis Colts Adrian Peterson — Minnesota Vikings Kurt Warner — Arizona Cardinals |
| Best NHL Player | Best MLS Player |
| Sidney Crosby — Pittsburgh Penguins Pavel Datsyuk — Detroit Red Wings Evgeni Malkin — Pittsburgh Penguins Alexander Ovechkin — Washington Capitals | Landon Donovan — Los Angeles Galaxy Juan Pablo Angel — New York Red Bulls Jon Busch — Chicago Fire Kenny Cooper — FC Dallas Guillermo Barros Schelotto — Columbus Crew |
| Best Male Action Sports Athlete | Best Female Action Sports Athlete |
| Shaun White — Snowboarding/Skateboarding Ryan Sheckler — Skateboarding Kelly Slater — Surfing James Stewart Jr. — Motocross | Maya Gabeira — Surfing Torah Bright — Snowboarding Sarah Burke — Skiing Ashley Fiolek — Motocross |
| Best US Male Olympian | Best US Female Olympian |
| Michael Phelps — Swimming Bryan Clay — Track & Field LaShawn Merritt — Track & Field Angelo Taylor — Track & Field | Shawn Johnson — Gymnastics Natalie Coughlin — Swimming Dawn Harper — Track & Field Nastia Liukin — Gymnastics |
| Best Bowler | Best Driver |
| Norm Duke Chris Barnes Wes Malott | Jimmie Johnson Hélio Castroneves Scott Dixon Lewis Hamilton Tony Schumacher |
| Best Fighter | Best Male Golfer |
| Manny Pacquiao — Boxing Lyoto Machida — MMA Shane Mosley — Boxing Anderson Silva — MMA | Tiger Woods Pádraig Harrington Phil Mickelson |
| Best Female Golfer | Best Jockey |
| Lorena Ochoa Paula Creamer Suzann Pettersen | Calvin Borel Garrett Gomez Mike Smith |
| Best Male Tennis Player | Best Female Tennis Player |
| Roger Federer Rafael Nadal | Serena Williams Svetlana Kuznetsova Dinara Safina |
| Under Armour All-America Moment | Special Awards |
| Andre Debose & Russell Shepard — Football Jake Bernhardt — Lacrosse Tara Glover — Softball David Renfroe — Baseball Hannah Werth — Volleyball | Arthur Ashe Courage Award: President Nelson Mandela Jimmy V Award For Perseverance: Don Meyer, Northern State University coach Best Comeback: Dara Torres, Swimming |

## In Memoriam

* Ron Snidow
* Dom DiMaggio
* Gene Upshaw
* Jack Kemp
* Lou Saban
* Sammy Baugh
* Doc Blanchard
* Paul Newman
* Mark Fidrych
* Nick Adenhart
* Arturo Gatti
* Schlumbergera
* Skip Caray
* Harry Kalas
* Kay Yow
* Chuck Daly
* Steve McNair
* Alex Macgregor Gee