Simone Biles, Suni Lee lead Olympians to win 2025 ESPYs

Yahoo

2 days ago

Simone Biles won two ESPYs, including best female athlete, while fellow Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Suni Lee earned the best comeback award.
Biles became the first two-time best female athlete recipient since Ronda Rousey in 2014-15 after also taking the honor in 2017.
Biles won the 2025 best female athlete over fellow nominees who also earned 2024 Olympic titles: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas in track and field and basketball player A'ja Wilson.
Biles also won best championship performance after taking three gold medals in Paris.
"My sincere gratitude, appreciation and love to all of you who have stood with me on this magical journey," said Biles, who won over Stephen Curry, Rory McIlroy and Freddie Freeman. "All the highs, lows, twists and turns along the way. Six-year-old me, who first started tumbling on my parents' sofa in the living room, is floored to be standing before you right now."
Lee was named best comeback athlete after winning Olympic team gold and all-around and uneven bars bronze, one year after being diagnosed with two kidney diseases.
"When I was diagnosed with two rare kidney diseases, I was told I'd never compete again, but I refused to believe that," she said. "There were days where I felt scared, defeated and alone, but I always found strength around me."
The other comeback nominees were also Olympians: Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, soccer player Mallory Swanson and hockey player Gabriel Landeskog.
Other Olympians to win ESPY awards included Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (best male athlete, best NBA player), rugby sevens player Ilona Maher (breakthrough athlete), hockey player Alex Ovechkin (record-breaking performance), Scottie Scheffler (golfer), Coco Gauff (tennis player), Katie Taylor (boxer), tennis player Sloane Stephens (Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award) and 1960 Olympic gold medalist basketball player Oscar Robertson (Arthur Ashe Award for Courage).
Paralympic snowboarding gold medalist Noah Elliott won best athlete with a disability.
David Walters, a 2008 Olympic swimming relay gold medalist, and former professional soccer player Erin Regan won the Pat Tillman Award for Service. Walters, a Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter, and Regan, a Los Angeles County Fire firefighter-paramedic, were among those who fought the Southern California wildfires in January.
Alex Morgan and Diana Taurasi, Olympic gold medalists who retired in the last year, shared an icon award.
A full list of ESPY winners and nominees is here.
2025 U.S. Classic gymnastics: how to watch, field, preview
The U.S. Classic airs live on CNBC and Peacock on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
Nick Zaccardi,