Tennis superstar Serena Williams was named Sport Illustrated’s 2015 Sportsperson of the Year Monday morning, following an incredible year. “She had an awesome year”, said Paul Fichtenbaum, editor of the Sports Illustrated Group.
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At the age of just 22 years old, Garbine Muguruzahas been proving that she can already mix it with the best players in the world and she is only going to get better with age.
It just feels like the right time to make the change. Runner Mary Decker in 1983 was the last female athlete to earn the magazines award by herself.
“I do want to be known as the greatest ever”, Williams told SI.
She thanked Sports Illustrated for recognizing her hard work and determination. “I am beyond honored”.
The award, now called Sportsperson of the Year, is presented to the person, or the horse in the case of Zayat Stables’ American Pharoah, who “embodied the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement”.
Who is more deserving of the award?
“But we are honoring Serena Williams too for reasons that hang in the greyer, less comfortable ether, where issues such as race and femininity collide with the games”.
It was a decisive decision for the Sports Illustrated staff to choose her, as reported by the publication itself.
“2016? #letsdoit”, she wrote on her Instagram account while unveiling the magazine cover. Williams won three major titles, triumphed in 53 of the 56 matches she played and ranked number one for every week of the season for the second straight year. However, horse-racing fans are crying foul that Triple Crown-winning thoroughbred American Pharoah was snubbed, despite leading the poll for the award.
But still, a lot of people really wanted American Pharoah to win the Sportsperson of the Year award.
“She was a terrific candidate in a year of terrific candidates”, he added.
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Serena Williams continues to excel at everything that she puts her mind to and it does not go unnoticed.
