Action sports athletes nominated for the 2011 ESPY Awards
The list of athletes nominated for the latest Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards have been unveiled, with several extremely prominent X Games and Winter X Games athletes finding themselves in contention for the Best Male Action Sports
Athlete Award. There is also a category for the Best Female Action Sports Athlete, with some of the action sports ladies nominated for the honour.
The ESPY Awards are held by the leading American cable television network, ESPN, to acknowledge athletes for their consistent year-round impressive performance. The winner, chosen through online voting by fans and experts, is handed over the Award in an
annual ESPY Award ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on July 13th this year at Nokia Centre in Los Angeles, USA.
The list of action sports athletes nominated for the Award includes the exceptional free-skier from France, Kevin Rolland. The 22-year-old has been making a strong impact in the sport for quite some time now. Not only did he manage to clinch the gold in
Winter X Games and Winter X Games Europe last year, he was able to successfully retain his throne in the two editions of X Games earlier this year, adding a couple of Winter Dew Tour wins to his resume’ along the way. The man is undoubtedly one of the most
formidable force to be reckoned with in free-skiing at the moment.
Another athlete who finds himself nominated for the 2011 ESPY Award is Travis Pastrana, the motocross legend from America. The man has earned respect in the action sports community through his unforgettable performances and substantial contributions to the
progression of freestyle motocross. He has added a dozen X Games gold medals to his collection over the years, with his latest accomplishment being a double-gold last year in Los Angeles.
Finding Kelly Slater’s name in the list nominee comes as no surprise. The legendary American surfer has been ruling the waves for nearly two decades now and still seems to have quite a lot of fight left in him. He had gotten himself the reputation of being
the best in the sport even before he reached his 10thAssociation of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title landmark last year. He holds the honour for being both, the young and oldest surfer in history to secure a World Title.
No debate over the best action sports athlete can be complete without taking America’s Shaun White into consideration. The 24-year-old flying tomato has been making waves in both skateboarding and snowboarding quite consistently. He possesses the boasting
rights for the most Winter X Games medals in history. Earlier this year, he became the first person to earn a Snowboard SuperPipe four-peat in Winter X Games history. To make himself standout even more in the last 12 months, he successfully added another X
Games medal to his collection by prevailing in Skateboard Vert. He capped 2010 with a couple of Dew Tour skate vert victories.
America’s snowmobile star, Tucker Hibbert, is also one of the few Winter X Games athletes who has been nominated for the ESPY Award.
The men of action sports are not the only ones who have an opportunity to take an ESPY Award home. Some of the top females of action sports find themselves as nominees for the Best Female Action Sport Athletes Award.
The list includes Canada’s freestyle skier, Sarah Burke. The 29-year-old is ahead of both male and female athletes when it comes to the number of SuperPipe gold medals. She has dominated the half-pipe in all the major contests that she’s entered over the
last year, which include both, Winter X Games 15 and Winter X Games Europe 2011.
The four-time ASP Women World Champion from Australia, Stephanie Gilmore is also nominated for the ESPY Award. The 23-year-old blonde took her fourth consecutive World Title last year. Holding on to the fourth place in the current ASP Women’s World Tour,
she continues to remain impressive.
The American snowboarder Kelly Clark is another lady who is nominated for the ESPY Award. Enjoying the reputation of being a pipe-queen, Clark seems also invincible when it comes to half-pipe and SuperPipe competition. Of the 12 Winter X Games that she’s
participated in, she has walked away with a medal from eight of them.
Clark nearly won almost every half-pipe and SuperPipe contest that she entered during the 2010-11 season, asserting her dominance in the discipline. She made her way into the history books earlier this year by becoming the first woman to land a 1080 during
a SuperPipe contest at Winter X Games 15.
For full list of the athletes nominated for the ESPY Awards, one will have to log on to their official website. The voting officially closes on July 9th, so if you are interested in getting your favourite athlete honoured, be sure to vote. Who
knows, your vote may end up being the decisive one!
Tags: