The Best Athlete, Women's Sports ESPY 2026 is ESPN's fan-voted award for the best individual season across every women's sport, and the 2026 field runs four deep with A'ja Wilson, Mikaela Shiffrin, Nelly Korda and Hilary Knight. Two of them have already won this exact trophy, Wilson in 2024 and Shiffrin in 2023. The winner is revealed live at the ESPYS on July 15, 2026. The live board above ranks the current cross-platform prices.
The Best Athlete, Women's Sports ESPY 2026 is ESPN's fan-voted award for the best individual season across every women's sport, and the 2026 field is stacked with champions from four different disciplines. A'ja Wilson, Mikaela Shiffrin, Nelly Korda and Hilary Knight are the named contenders. Two of them, Wilson in 2024 and Shiffrin in 2023, have already taken this exact trophy home. The live board above ranks the current cross-platform prices ahead of the July 15, 2026 ceremony.
A'ja Wilson enters as the chalk on the board, and her resume is the reason. The Las Vegas Aces star won her fourth career WNBA MVP in 2025, the most in league history, and became the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win regular-season MVP, Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and the scoring title in the same season. She also set a WNBA record with 322 points in the 2025 postseason. Wilson already owns this ESPY from 2024, so voters have crowned her in this category before, and her run also drives the Best WNBA Player ESPY 2026 odds. She is the favorite on the board above; check it for the current price.
Mikaela Shiffrin is the most decorated alpine skier in history and the most credentialed name in the field. In February 2025 she became the first skier to reach 100 World Cup wins, passing Ingemar Stenmark's long-standing record of 86. She added a sixth World Cup overall title in March 2026 to tie the all-time mark, and she won the 2026 Olympic slalom by 1.50 seconds, the largest margin in that event since 1998. Shiffrin won this same ESPY in 2023, which makes her the one contender besides Wilson with a prior victory in the category. She sits in the next tier on the board behind Wilson.
Nelly Korda holds the world No. 1 ranking in women's golf and reached the 2026 ESPYS on the back of back-to-back LPGA major championships. She sits 25 of the 27 points needed for the LPGA Hall of Fame, so two more strong results could make her a Hall of Famer. Hilary Knight is the field's hockey entry and its Olympic record-holder. She owns the U.S. career records with 15 Olympic goals and 33 Olympic points, and in 2026 she became the first American hockey player to compete in five Olympic Games. Both trail Wilson and Shiffrin on the board, but a fan-voted award rewards recent moments, and both delivered them.
The award now called Best Athlete, Women's Sports traces back to the Best Female Athlete ESPY, first handed out in 1993, and ESPN moved to the current inclusive name for the 2021 ceremony. The recent roll of winners is a who's who: Simone Biles took the 2025 award after her three-gold comeback at the Paris Olympics, A'ja Wilson won in 2024, Mikaela Shiffrin in 2023, Katie Ledecky in 2022, and Naomi Osaka won the first edition under the current name in 2021. Under the older Best Female Athlete banner, repeat winners include Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Lindsey Vonn and Simone Biles, who has now won under both names. That history matters this year because two of the 2026 contenders, Wilson and Shiffrin, are already on the winners list.
The market resolves on July 15, 2026, the night the ESPYS air live on ESPN at 8pm ET from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The winner is chosen by public fan voting rather than a media panel, and the contract for the announced winner pays out while every other contender settles at zero. The board above reflects how traders are pricing that vote right now.
The 2026 ESPYS carry a full slate of tradeable categories. The Best Athlete, Men's Sports ESPY 2026 market is the direct counterpart to this race, and the night's headline honor is the Best Team ESPY 2026 market. League-specific races run through the Best NBA Player ESPY 2026 board and the Best NFL Player ESPY 2026 board. For the wider slate, browse sports prediction markets.
The market resolves on July 15, 2026, when the winner of the Best Athlete, Women's Sports category is announced during the live ESPYS telecast on ESPN from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ESPYS are decided by public fan voting, and the announced winner's contract pays $1 per share while every other contender resolves to $0. The board carries a Tie contract for the rare case of co-winners. If ESPN cancels the ceremony or does not present this category, the market resolves per each platform's award-cancellation rules.
As of July 11, 2026, A'ja Wilson is the favorite on Kalshi at 54c, ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin and Nelly Korda. Wilson also won this award in 2024.
It resolves on July 15, 2026, when the winner is announced live at the ESPYS on ESPN, airing at 8pm ET from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
The market trades on Kalshi under the KXESPYS series, and several of the contenders are also listed on Polymarket.
Simone Biles won in 2025, A'ja Wilson in 2024, Mikaela Shiffrin in 2023, Katie Ledecky in 2022, and Naomi Osaka in 2021, the first year under the current name.
Watch fan-vote momentum in the days before the July 15, 2026 telecast. A'ja Wilson and Mikaela Shiffrin have both won this category before, so name recognition could swing the final tally.