United Press International Athlete of the Year Award
The United Press International Athlete of the Year Award was an annual award ceremony organized by the United Press International (UPI) news agency from 1974 to 1995 for the so-called “ World Athlete of the Year ”. Women were chosen separately. Overview of all male award winners:
| year | Award winners | country | sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Muhammad Ali |
 United States
|
Boxing |
| 1975 | João Carlos de Oliveira |
 Brazil
|
athletics |
| 1976 | Alberto Juantorena |
 Cuba
|
athletics |
| 1977 | Alberto Juantorena (2) |
Cuba
|
athletics |
| 1978 | Henry Rono |
 Kenya
|
athletics |
| 1979 | Sebastian Coe |
 United Kingdom
|
athletics |
| 1980 | Eric Heiden |
United States
|
Speed skating |
| 1981 | Sebastian Coe (2) |
United Kingdom
|
athletics |
| 1982 | Daley Thompson |
United Kingdom
|
athletics |
| 1983 | Carl Lewis |
United States
|
athletics |
| 1984 | Carl Lewis (2) |
United States
|
athletics |
| 1985 | Steve Cram |
United Kingdom
|
athletics |
| 1986 | Diego Maradona |
 Argentina
|
Soccer |
| 1987 | Ben Johnson |
 Canada
|
athletics |
| 1988 | Matt Biondi |
United States
|
swim |
| 1989 | Boris Becker |
 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 |
| 1994 | Johann Olav Koss |
 Norway
|
Speed skating |
| 1995 | Jonathan Edwards |
United Kingdom
|
athletics |