Michael Phelps Wins Sports Illustrated's 2008 Sportsman of the Year Award

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  - Swimmer Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) was named the 2008 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated earlier today and became the first Olympian to win the prestigious award since speedskaters Bonnie Blair (USA) and Johann Olav Koss (NOR) earned the honor in 1994.  It is the sixth time the honor has gone to an Olympian, after Blair and Koss, Edwin Moses and Mary Lou Retton (1984), the "Miracle on Ice" team (1980) and Bobby Joe Morrow (1956). American decathlete Rafer Johnson, the '58 honoree, won in a non-Olympic year.

Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement."

Phelps secured his place in Olympic history by winning eight gold medals this summer at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to surpass Mark Spitz' previous gold-medal total of seven at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. In the process, Phelps set seven World Records and eight Olympic Records and won five individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by speedskater Eric Heiden at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games and equaled by gymnast Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Olympic Games.

"Michael Phelps as the 2008 Sportsman of the Year was the easiest choice I have made," Sports Illustrated Group Editor Terry McDonell said. "Look at what he did in Beijing last summer. I was there. I saw him race after race, win again and again - we all saw that. And then to know him now -- it is so obvious that he changed not only swimming, but also the entire Olympic landscape."

The first swimmer ever to win the award, Phelps was picked from the 39 nominations submitted by Sports Illustrated writers, a list that also included 2008 U.S. Olympic standouts Kobe Bryant (basketball), Brian McBride (soccer), Candace Parker (basketball), Hope Solo (soccer), Dara Torres (swimming) and the U.S. Olympic Men's Volleyball Team .  Also nominated were President Elect Barack Obama, Tiger Woods and Joey Cheek (2006 Olympic gold medalist), as well as the Central Washington University softball team, which was honored by the U.S. Olympic Committee earlier this year as the winner of the 2008 Jack Kelly Fair Play Award for its outstanding act of fair play and sportsmanship.

"The USOC congratulates Michael on being named Sports Illustrated's 2008 Sportsman of the Year," said Jim Scherr, USOC Chief Executive Officer.  "This honor not only recognizes his record-breaking achievement of winning eight gold medals in Beijing, but also pays tribute to the way with which he won those medals.  His accomplishments were made possible not only as a result of his hard work and dedication but also as a result of coach Bob Bowman's drive, his relay teammates' contributions and the support of USA Swimming. 

"Michael's performance captured the world's attention and has been an inspiration to millions worldwide and we could not be more proud of him for the manner in which he represented our nation and the Olympic Movement."

Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and eight gold in Beijing. He has twice equaled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympic Games; Dityatin garnered eight at the 1980 Olympic Games. Phelps ranks second in total career Olympic medals, behind Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.

The Sportsman of the Year issue, dated Dec. 8, will hit newsstands this Wednesday and will be the sixth time that has graced the SI cover.  Phelps will be honored at a ceremony in Manhattan this evening along with Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver -- the first recipient of the Sportsman of the Year Legacy Award -- and SI Kids' SportsKid of the Year, Derek Andrews.