Serena Williams Is Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year: 5 Things You

The magazine said it was honoring the 34-year-old icon both for her positively stunning numbers and her pluck in achieving what it called one of the greatest late-career runs in the history of any sport. Serena’s bid for the calendar year Grand Slam fell just short when she lost to Roberta Vinci in the US Open semifinals.

“For @sportsillustrated to recognise my hard work, my dedication, and my sheer determination gives me hope to continue on and do better”, she said.

Former Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt was the most recent woman to win when she shared the award with Duke Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski in 2011.

American Pharoah, however, had garnered 47 per cent of the votes in an online poll, which closed on Saturday with 588,988 votes registered.

Past recipients of the award include Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and Billie Jean King, while the last individual female athlete chosen was track star Mary Decker in 1983. An email asked members: “What event should be named the AP’s sports story of the year, and who should win male and female athlete of the year?”

Sports Illustrated managing editor Christian Stone explained the decision to pick Williams on SI.com. “Serena has been such a driving force with so many people that she’s just powerful in her own way and so inspirational to people”. The 21-time grand slam champion looked stunning, but critics were quick to point out that her legs looked different. SI even renamed the award to Sportsperson of the Year from the original Sportsman of the Year. “This is not just an accomplishment for me, but for my whole team, I am beyond honoured”. Despite an overwhelming victory in the fan vote by American Pharoah, maybe this sad announcement should come as no real surprise.