Phelps Named S.I. Sportsman of the Year
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Amy Novak

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Not the biggest surprise, but today Michael Phelps was named the 2008 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. The previous 54 winners included legends like Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods, though Phelps is the first  swimmer to take the honor. Amazingly, Mark Spitz and the seven gold metals he earned in the Munich Olympics were bypassed back in 1972, when SI editors chose UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and tennis great Billie Jean King instead.

With all the media weight Phelps' world records carried in 2008 - 14 career Olympic gold medals (the most by any Olympian), seven world records in swimming, and the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics (eight golds), it's hard to imagine who his competition could have been. The New York Giants Super Bowl win certainly put them in the running, but Phelps took first place once again.

Phelps will be honored tonight at a ceremony in Manhattan along with Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver – the first recipient of the Sportsman of the Year Legacy Award – and SI Kids' SportsKid of the Year, Derek Andrews.

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