The New Normal: Women's Sports Breaks Through to Mainstream Recognition The recent ESPY Awards have brought attention to a long overdue trend: women's sports finally receiving the recognition they deserve.
Alysa Liu's win as Best Breakthrough Athlete, following in the footsteps of Olympic skier Eileen Gu and LSU basketball star Angel Reese, marks a significant shift in public perception.
Historically, men dominated the Best Breakthrough Athlete Award, with only one female winner between 1993 and 2021: Mo'ne Davis, the Little League pitching phenom. From 1993 to 2021, male athletes accounted for 82.