The Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY 2026 is an award race, not a game, and this year it runs four deep: Paralympic multi-sport star Oksana Masters, sled hockey forward Declan Farmer, para nordic skier Jake Adicoff, and wheelchair racer Susannah Scaroni. Kalshi's board makes Masters the favorite, which would break a three-year run of para snowboarders taking the trophy. The winner is revealed live at the 2026 ESPYS on July 15, 2026. See the live board above for where each nominee sits right now.
The Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY is one of the few trophies at the ESPYS decided by ballot rather than by a box score, and the 2026 edition is a genuine four-way race. The nominees span four different sports: Paralympic multi-sport star Oksana Masters, U.S. sled hockey forward Declan Farmer, para nordic skier Jake Adicoff, and wheelchair racing distance champion Susannah Scaroni. Kalshi's board treats Masters as the front-runner, but the gap to Farmer and Adicoff is tight enough that the winner is far from settled. The live board above tracks where each nominee stands.
Four nominees carry the 2026 ballot, and no two come from the same sport. That spread is what makes the Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY race hard to call, because voters are comparing a rower-turned-skier against a hockey forward, a nordic skier, and a marathon wheelchair racer.
### Oksana Masters
Masters is the most decorated name on the ballot and the reason the market leans her way. She has medaled across rowing, cycling, cross-country skiing, and biathlon at both Summer and Winter Paralympics, a range no other 2026 nominee matches. The one line missing from her resume is this award itself. Masters was nominated eight times for the Best Female Athlete With a Disability ESPY during its 2005 to 2022 run and never won it. A victory on July 15 would close that gap and make her the first non-snowboarder to take the reunified category since it returned in 2023.
### Declan Farmer
Farmer is the field's lone team-sport athlete, a forward on the U.S. national sled hockey program and a Paralympic gold medalist whose overtime scoring in the 2018 final is part of the sport's highlight reel. His case is built on winning at the highest level of para ice hockey rather than the individual-event dominance that defines the rest of the ballot. In a category that has rewarded solo athletes in recent years, Farmer is the structural outlier, and the market keeps him second.
### Jake Adicoff
Adicoff is a para nordic skier who competes in the visually impaired class alongside a guide and has medaled at the Paralympic level in cross-country skiing. He shares the winter-sport lane that has produced the last three winners, which matters in a category that has favored snow athletes since 2023. Adicoff sits close to Farmer on the board, and a strong voting push from the Nordic and Paralympic community would put him in front.
### Susannah Scaroni
Scaroni is a wheelchair racing distance specialist, a Paralympic gold medalist on the track and a champion at the sport's marquee marathons. This is not her first time on this ballot, as she was among the nominees in 2023, the year Zach Miller won. She is the longest shot of the four named contenders on Kalshi's board, but her marathon-season results keep her a real part of the conversation rather than a name filling out the ticket.
The Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY has an unusual history, which shapes how short its recent-winner list actually is. The award debuted in 2002 as a unisex honor, split into separate men's and women's categories in 2005, and was reunified into one trophy again in 2023. That means the modern single-award era is only three years old heading into 2026.
In the reunified era, para snowboarders have swept every year. Zach Miller won in 2023, Brenna Huckaby won in 2024, and Noah Elliott won in 2025. Before the gender split, the original unisex winners were mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer in 2002, sprinter Marlon Shirley in 2003, and wrestler Kyle Maynard in 2004. The 2005 to 2022 window ran as two separate awards, where names like swimmer Jessica Long and wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden became repeat winners of the women's version. No 2026 nominee has ever won this specific trophy, which is part of what makes the race compelling.
The Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY 2026 is decided the night of the ESPYS, which air Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at 8pm ET on ESPN from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The market resolves to whichever nominee is announced as the winner during the broadcast. Voting is handled through the ESPYS process run by ESPN, combining fan input with the academy's selections, and the result is not public until it is read on air. Once the winner is named, the contract on that nominee settles and every other nominee's contract goes to zero.
Five factors shape the Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY 2026 race before the July 15 telecast.
The ESPYS carry a full slate of tradeable award races beyond this one. See the Best Team ESPY 2026 odds for the night's marquee category, or track individual sport honors on the Best MLB Player ESPY 2026 market and the Best NFL Player ESPY 2026 market. The two headline athlete races, the Best Male Athlete ESPY 2026 and the Best Female Athlete ESPY 2026, sit on the same July 15 ballot as this award. Browse the full board of entertainment prediction markets for more award-season contracts.
The Best Athlete With a Disability ESPY 2026 resolves the night of the ESPYS on July 15, 2026, broadcast on ESPN from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The market settles to the single nominee named the winner during the telecast, as determined by the ESPYS voting process run by ESPN. The contract for the winning nominee pays out and every other nominee contract settles at zero. If the ceremony is postponed or the category is not presented on air, the market resolves per the platform's stated rules for a delayed or canceled event.
It is an annual ESPYS award, voted through ESPN, honoring the top performance by an athlete with a disability. It began in 2002, split into men and women categories from 2005 to 2022, and returned to a single unisex trophy in 2023.
The named 2026 nominees are Paralympic multi-sport athlete Oksana Masters, U.S. sled hockey forward Declan Farmer, para nordic skier Jake Adicoff, and wheelchair racing distance champion Susannah Scaroni.
It is decided during the 2026 ESPYS on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, airing at 8pm ET on ESPN from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The market resolves the moment the winner is announced on the broadcast.
As of July 11, 2026, Kalshi has Oksana Masters as the favorite at 43c, ahead of Declan Farmer at 32c and Jake Adicoff at 28c, with Susannah Scaroni further back. Check the live board above for the current read.
Watch whether Oksana Masters can finally convert after eight prior nominations, and whether the three-year para snowboarder win streak ends, since none of the 2026 named nominees rides a board. Fan and media voting closes before the July 15 telecast.