United Press International Athlete of the Year Award
Year Athlete Nation represented Sport
1974 Muhammad Ali United States Boxing
1975 João Carlos de Oliveira Brazil Athletics
1976 Alberto Juantorena Cuba Athletics
1977 Alberto Juantorena Cuba Athletics
1978 Henry Rono Kenya Athletics
1979 Sebastian Coe United Kingdom Athletics
1980 Eric Heiden United States Speed skating
1981 Sebastian Coe United Kingdom Athletics
1982 Daley Thompson United Kingdom Athletics
1983 Carl Lewis United States Athletics
1984 Carl Lewis United States Athletics
1985 Steve Cram United Kingdom Athletics
1986 Diego Maradona Argentina Football
1987 Ben Johnson Canada Athletics
1988 Matt Biondi United States Swimming
1989 Boris Becker West Germany Tennis
1990 Stefan Edberg Sweden Tennis
1991 Sergey Bubka Soviet Union Athletics
1992 Kevin Young United States Athletics
1993 Miguel Indurain Spain Road cycling
Male winners
The United Press International Athlete of the Year Award was conferred annually between 1974 and 1995, one each to the individuals adjudged, without restriction to nationality or sport contested, to be the male and female athlete of the year by a panel of sportswriters and editors constituted under the auspices of the United Press International.