UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi’s perfect 10 in a floor exercise won awards for best play and best viral sports Moment at Wednesday evening’s 2019 ESPY Awards.
The ESPYS, honoring the best performances from the past year in sports, were presented at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles in a ceremony hosted by comedian Tracy Morgan.
Ohashi’s knockout routine, shared widely on YouTube, was performed at the 2019 Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim in January.
Also at Wednesday night’s ceremony, LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic won best MLS player, and the Los Angeles Rams won the best game category for their Monday Night Football thriller against the Chiefs, which the Rams won, 54-51.
Other Southland nominees included Rams running back Todd Gurley and defensive lineman Aaron Donald, and Los Angeles Sparks forward/center Candace Parker.
A host of sports notables and celebrities attended the gala event, including Dave Bautista, Linda Cardellini, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Joel McHale, Kumail Nanjiani, Eugenio Derbez, Usher, Billie Jean King and Chris Long.
NBA legend Bill Russell received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Bay Area high school football coach Rob Mendez, who was born with no arms or legs, received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.
Here is a list of nominees and winners:
BEST MALE ATHLETE
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (won)
Brooks Koepka, Golf
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm
Simone Biles, Gymnast
Alex Morgan, USWNT (won)
Mikaela Shiffrin, US Skiing
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ATHLETE
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants (won)
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
Naomi Osaka, US Open, Australian Open
BEST GAME
NCAAF – LSU vs. Texas A&M: Aggies win seven-overtime 74-72 thriller in highest scoring game in FBS history
NFL Week 11 – LA Rams (54) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (51), Monday Night Football (won)
NCAAW Final Four – Notre Dame (81) vs. UConn (76), 26 lead changes
BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE
Kyler Murray, Oklahoma Football, 2018 Heisman Trophy Winner
Zion Williamson, Duke MBB, 2019 Wooden Award Winner (won)
Rachel Garcia, UCLA Softball, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon WBB, 2019 Wooden Award Winner
BEST RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCE
— Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) passed Peyton Manning’s 71,940 career passing yards to move into first place on the all-time list; most completions in NFL history, 6,300+ completions passes Brett Favre (won)
— Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon Basketball) recorded her 13th triple-double. She now holds the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball record for triple doubles. She surpassed Kyle Collinsworth’s mark of 12 in four seasons at BYU. She also broke the Division I men’s and women’s record in a single season in the Ducks’ 96-78 win over Southern California (7) breaking former BYU guard Kyle Collinsworth
— Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors) broke the NBA 3-point record in a game with 14, passing Stephen Curry’s previous mark
— Matthew Boling became the first-ever high schooler to break 10 seconds in the 100-meter dash, dropping a 9.98
BEST PLAY (bracket-style voting)
Miami Miracle: Miami Dolphins Stun the New England Patriots
Kawhi Leonard Drains Game-Winner at Buzzer in Game 7
Derrick Henry’s NFL-record 99-yard run vs. Jaguars
Wayne Rooney Just Single-Handedly Won A Match For D.C. United
UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi scores a perfect 10 (won)
Andrew Benintendi calls game
Damian Lillard Sends OKC Home On Buzzer Beater
Manchester QB Brendon Clar throws this ball to Kevin Henderson for the 48 yard TD catch
Texas Tech WR makes one-handed grab that mirrors OBJs best catch
Kinsley Washington singled home Jacqui Prober to win the Bruins* 12th softball title
Julie Ertz gives the USWNT the lead early in the second half
Texas A&M’s Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold
Arike Ogunbowale Behind the Back Pass
Kihei Clark, Mamadi Diakite Save Virginia at the buzzer
Wilmington Charter’s Taylor Gillis with CATCH OF THE YEAR!
`Hail Mary’ pass helps Texas high school football team win state title
BEST VIRAL SPORTS MOMENT
Rudolph “Blaze” Ingram, the 7-year-old running phenom is already faster than you
Texas A&M’s Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold
Katelyn Ohashi, UCLA Gymnastics, scores a perfect 10 (won)
Don’t Sleep on Sister Mary Jo’s curveball
BEST UPSET
NCAAF – Old Dominion defeats No. 13 Virginia Tech 49-35, Old Dominion only had a 1.8% chance of winning according to ESPN’s FPI, making it the largest upset by an FBS team in the 14 years of Football Power Index projections
2018 US Open – Naomi Osaka defeating Serena Williams
NHL – Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off what many thought impossible, an upset for the ages after a 7-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on in Game 4 of their best-of-7 series.
Boxing – Andy Ruiz Jr. upset win over Anthony Joshua (won)
BEST INTERNATIONAL MEN’S SOCCER PLAYER
Lionel Messi (won)
Cristiano Ronaldo
Kylian Mbappe
Virgil Van Dyke
BEST INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER PLAYER
Pernille Harder, Denmark
Ada Hegerberg, Norway
Sam Kerr, Australia (won)
Lucy Bronze, England
BEST NFL PLAYER
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (won)
Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams
Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
BEST MLB PLAYER
Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (won)
Jacob DeGrom, New York Mets
Blake Snell, Tampa Bays Rays
BEST NHL PLAYER
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (won)
BEST DRIVER
Lewis Hamilton, F1
Steve Torrence, NHRA
Scott Dixon, Indy
Kyle Busch, NASCAR (won)
BEST NBA PLAYER
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
James Harden, Houston Rockets
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors
Paul George, OKC Thunder
BEST WNBA PLAYER
Breanna Stewart, Seattle Storm (won)
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury
Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
Candace Parker, Los Angeles Sparks
BEST BOXER
Canelo Alvarez (won)
Vasily Lomachenko
Oleksandr Usyk
Terence Crawford
BEST MMA FIGHTER
Israel Adesanya
Daniel Cormier (won)
Henry Cejudo
Amanda Nunes
BEST MALE GOLFER
Brooks Koepka (won)
Tiger Woods
Justin Rose
Francesco Molinari
BEST FEMALE GOLFER
Ariya Jutanugarn
Brooke Henderson (won)
Jin-Young Ko
Sung Hyun Park
BEST MALE TENNIS PLAYER
Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer (won)
Stefanos Tsitsipas
BEST FEMALE TENNIS PLAYER
Naomi Osaka
Simona Halep
Serena Williams (won)
Petra Kvitova
BEST MALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE
Nyjah Huston (USA), skateboard (won)
Scotty James (AUS), snowboard
Tom Pages (FRA), freestyle motocross
Gabriel Medina (BRA), surf
BEST FEMALE ACTION SPORTS ATHLETE
Kelly Sildaru (EST), ski
Chloe Kim (USA), snowboard (won)
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (NZL), snowboard
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), surf
BEST MALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Mark Barr, Triathalon (won)
Declan Farmer, Hockey
Daniel Romanchuk, Marathon Racing
Oz Sanchez, Cycling
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE WITH A DISABILITY
Oksana Masters, Nordic Skiing
Tatyana McFadden, Marathon Racing
Shawn Morelli, Cycling
Allysa Seely, Triathalon (won)
BEST BOWLER
Jason Belmonte
Norm Duke (won)
Anthony Simonsen
Jakob Butturff
BEST MLS PLAYER
Josef Martinez, Atlanta United
Wayne Rooney, DC United
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, LA Galaxy (won)
Aaron Long, NY Red Bulls
BEST NWSL PLAYER
Lindsey Horan, Portland Thorns
Adrianna Franch, Portland Thorns
Sam Kerr, Chicago Red Stars (won)
Abby Erceg, North Carolina Courage
BEST ESPORTS MOMENT (bracket-style voting)
SonicFox winning Evo after switching sides
Team Liquid upsets defending world champ Invictus Gaming at MSI
Cloud9 wins CS:GO Boston Major
Astralis winning Katowice
Invictus League of Legends World Championship
Spitfire win inaugural Overwatch League championship
Serral winning StarCraft at BlizzCon
Shanghai Dragons end 42-game losing streak
Team OG wins the International and $11 million from qualifiers
Chiquita Evans becoming the first woman in the 2K League
oLarry’s return to the NBA 2K League after the Jacksonville shooting (won)
Leffen finally winning EVO in what could be Melee’s last year at the event
Ninja Fortnite win with Marshmello at E3 ProAM
Chritobin Madden Challenge walk off
G2 wins R6 world championship
Mongausse winning Summer Skirmish from out of nowhere
BEST WWE MOMENT
Roman Reigns returns to WWE Raw, announces his Leukemia is in remission (won)
Becky Lynch wins both WWE Women’s Championship Titles at Wrestlemania 35
Kofi Kingston wins his first WWE Heavyweight Championship Title at Wrestlemania 35
Ronda Rousey defeats Alexa Bliss at Summerslam 2018 to win her first RAW Women’s Championship Title
Rams running back Todd Gurley and defensive lineman Aaron Donald, LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Los Angeles Sparks forward/center Candace Parker are among the nominees heading into Wednesday evening’s 2019 ESPY Awards.
The ESPYS, honoring the best performances from the past year in sports, were presented at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles in a ceremony hosted by comedian Tracy Morgan.
Gurley and Donald were both nominated for best NFL player, along with Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints. The Rams are nominated as a team in the category of best game for its Monday Night Football thriller against the Chiefs, which the Rams won 54-51.
Mahomes is among the nominees for best male athlete, as are Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and golfer Brooks Koepka. Best female athlete nominees are Breanna Stewart of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, gymnast Simone Biles, U.S. women’s soccer standout Alex Morgan and skiier Mikaela Shiffrin.
Ibrahimovic is up for best MLS player, while Parker is nominated for best WNBA player.
A host of sports notables and celebrities are expected to attend the gala event. Among those set to present during the event are Dave Bautista, Linda Cardellini, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Joel McHale, Kumail Nanjiani, Eugenio Derbez, Usher, Billie Jean King and Chris Long.
NBA legend Bill Russell will receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage during the event. Bay Area high school football coach Rob Mendez, who was born with no arms or legs, will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.
Here is a complete list of nominees and winners: