ESPYS elite athlete winners | CTV news
LOS ANGELES –
Patrick Mahomes was honored as the best sports athlete for men at the ESPYS, while skier Mikaela Shiffrin received the honor for women’s sports on Wednesday night.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has won two Super Bowls in his five seasons and was named MVP of the game each time, including last February. He will be 28 in September.
“It was an incredible season. There were a lot of ups, a lot of downs,” said Mahomes. “I appreciate my teammates, my coaches, the guys who are here. I’m going back to camp next Tuesday, so this is a great prize. But we’re going to do this thing again, we’re going to keep this thing rolling .” .”
Shiffrin won her 87th World Cup race in March, breaking Ingemar Stenmark’s record for most such wins by any skier. She went on to win an 88th cup race, as well as the overall season title.
“This season has been absolutely incredible and there was a lot of talk about records and it got me thinking, why is a record important anyway?” said Shiffrin at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. “I just feel like it’s not important to break records or reset records. It’s important to set the tone for the next generation, to inspire them.”
Sports talk host Pat McAfee provided the opening monologue in his first major public appearance since joining ESPN in May.
The show celebrating the past year’s top sports moments and athletes had no celebrity host due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. McAfee issued a series of hints that comedian Kevin Hart was set for the gig, but that Hart chose to support the Writers Guild of America.