(Clockwise L-R) Jamie Anderson, David Wise, Shaun White, Chloe Kim and the U.S. women's ice hockey team are among the Team USA athletes nominated for the 2018 ESPY Awards.
With memories of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 still fresh in the minds of sports fans, it’s no surprise that many of the Team USA athletes who made those memories are among the nominees at the annual ESPY Awards.
But plenty of athletes from the summer Games are nominated too in all number of categories, meaning that it’s likely you’ll see a parade of Team USA athletes across the stage in Los Angeles for the July 18 awards show.
One category that is obviously all Team USA is Best Olympic Moment, which is packed with the biggest history-making moments from PyeongChang. Snowboarder Shaun White is nominated for his dramatic gold medal in the halfpipe, the third of his decorated career and the 100th all-time for Team USA at the Winter Games. Jessie Diggins was part of the first-ever cross-country skiing gold medal for Team USA. Another first-time gold was captured by the U.S. Olympic Men’s Curling Team. And last but not least, there was the dramatic shootout win over Canada by the U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey Team, capturing gold for the first time since 1998. That team is also nominated for Best Team and in the Best Game category.
One of the top awards, Best Female Athlete, is also all Team USA nominees with Olympic gold medalists Mikaela Shiffrin (alpine skiing), Chloe Kim (snowboarding) and Sylvia Fowles (basketball), plus 2016 Olympian Julie Ertz (soccer). Kim, Shiffrin and snowboarder Jamie Anderson, who medaled twice in PyeongChang, are also all nominated for Best Female Olympian, plus ice hockey player Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, who scored the gold medal-winning shootout goal.
Best Male Olympian is a four-way U.S. race with White, fellow snowboarding gold medalist Red Gerard, two-time gold medalist freestyle skier David Wise and curling team skip John Shuster.
Kim and Anderson are nominated again for Best Female Action Sports Athlete, with Wise nominated again on the male side.
There is a Paralympic flair to the Best Male and Female Athlete With A Disability categories. All eight are Paralympic gold medalists. The men’s side features Nordic skier Dan Cnossen, alpine skier Andrew Kurka, sled hockey player Declan Farmer and snowboarder Mike Schultz. The women include Nordic skier Oksana Masters, snowboarder Brenna Huckaby, Nordic skier Kendall Gretsch and track and field athlete Tatyana McFadden.
Katie Ledecky’s college swimming career was brief, but it was enough to earn her a nomination for Best College Athlete. She is nominated alongside Villanova basketball player Jalen Brunson, who was the 2015 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.
Brunson’s Wildcats are nominated for Best Team, along with the Notre Dame women’s basketball squad that features rising USA Basketball star and 2014 Youth Olympic champion Arike Ogunbowale. The Fighting Irish were also nominated for Best Moment in winning the national championship.
2017 US Open champ and 2016 Olympian Sloane Stephens is nominated for Best Breakthrough Athlete and Best Female Tennis Player.
Gold medalist James Harden is nominated on the Best Male Athlete side, as well as for Best NBA Player, along with fellow gold medalists LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Fowles is nominated again for Best WNBA Player, along with fellow gold medalists Maya Moore and Candace Parker. Rounding out the category is 2020 hopeful Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Kevin Durant was nominated for Best Championship Performance, as well as Best Team along with the rest of the Golden State Warriors. Diana Taurasi was nominated for Best Record-Breaking Performance by becoming the first WNBA player to hit 1,000 3-pointers.
The U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team is represented with gold medalist Megan Rapinoe, past national team member Sam Mewis and past national youth team member Adrianna French nominated for Best NWSL Player. On the men’s side, Ike Opara is nominated for Best MLS Player. Opara made his U.S. senior national team debut in January.
Olympian Patrick Reed is nominated for Best Male Golfer.
The 26th annual ESPY Awards will air at 8 p.m. Eastern on July 18.
Todd Kortemeier is a sportswriter, editor and children’s book author from Minneapolis. He is a contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
