Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition.
In the United States, several states choose a simple "Mr." or "Miss" prefix, such as Mr. Basketball (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin).
Such awards — general and one-sport-only — are common at the high-school, college (university), and professional levels in the United States.
Awards with deliberate global scope, consistently nominating an international mix of athletes Awards that focus (either predominantly or exclusively) on sportspersons from the host country Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Canada Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland India Iran Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Kenya Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom United States The presence of "Sportsman" in the name doesn't imply that the award is open solely to men; women have frequently won these awards.
Vanuatu Czechoslovakia Soviet Union Yugoslavia