The U.S. Ski Team’s Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) was announced Wednesday as a 2012 ESPY nominee for Best Female Athlete. Vonn, who has won the highest individual ESPY category the last two years, posted a record-setting season that included her fourth FIS Alpine World Cup overall title.
Also up for ESPYS are snowboarders and fellow Olympic gold medalists Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) and Kelly Clark (Mount Snow, VT) along with Jaime Anderson (South Lake Tahoe, CA). Each are nominated in the Best Action Sports Athlete category.
The ESPYS are determined entirely by popular vote. Polling is open until July 9 at http://espn.go.com/. The awards will air live on July 11 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Vonn’s 2010 victory was the first time a snow sports athlete had won the top honor in the ESPY history. Her 2012 season included a record 12 World Cup wins en route to her fourth Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall title in addition to her fifth straight downhill crown, fourth super G title and third consecutive super combined globe to bring her career total to 16. She also reset the women’s all time World Cup point total record to 1,980, falling just 20 points shy of Hermann Maier’s men’s record.
Among women’s racers, Vonn stands behind only the all-time World Cup win marks of Annemarie Moser-Proell’s 62 and Vreni Schneider’s 55. Among men, she’s only shy of Ingemar Stenmark (86) and Maier (54).
Clark, one of only a few women’s riders who can land a 1080 in competition, has been nominated for the 2012 ESPY Award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete. She produced a near-perfect season that included an unprecedented 16-event winning streak including victories at the Aspen and European X Games.
Clark paved the way for snowboarding in 2002 when she became the first athlete to win the ESPY for Best Action Sports Athlete after winning the Olympic gold medal for halfpipe.
Anderson is also nominated for the 2012 ESPY Award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete. A slopestyle pioneer, Anderson produced eight podiums last winter including gold in both the Aspen and European X Games. She also posted a clean sweep of the Burton Open series with wins in the U.S., Europe and Canada.
Slopestyle snowboarding will make its debut at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, where Anderson is looking to secure gold.
White is nominated for the 2012 ESPY Award for Best Male Action Sports Athlete. Last winter, he became the first snowboarder to receive a perfect score of 100 to secure a halfpipe gold medal at the Aspen X Games. White also won gold in the European X Games slopestyle event. He has won this category six times, including every year since 2008.
Vote for your favorite snow sports star now at http://espn.go.com/espys/. Voting closes July 9 at midnight ET.
