(Indianapolis, IN) — Caitlin Clark has almost single handedly raised the profile of an entire league — the WNBA — and captured America’s hearts along the way. For that, the Associated Press on Tuesday named her the Female Athlete of the Year for her impact on and off the court.
After leading Iowa to the national championship game, Clark was drafted number one by the Indiana Fever and led them to their first playoff appearance in five years and was named the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year. WNBA teams would have change venues to larger arenas to accommodate the larger crowds that wanted to see Clark.
A group of 74 sports journalists from the AP and its members voted on the award — Clark received 35 votes, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was second with 25 and boxer Imane Khelif was third with four votes.
Clark is only the 4th women’s basketball player to receive the award since it started to be presented in 1931 — Sheryl Swoopes (1993), Rebecca lobo (1995) and Candace Parker twice (2008, 2021).
Clark broke the NCAA Division I career scoring record at Iowa for both men and women with 3,951 points. Her number 22 will be retired by the University of Iowa in a ceremony on February 2, 2025. Clark is a two-time recipient of the Wooden, Naismith, Wade, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Honda Cup and AAU Sullivan awards. Clark also won the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and Dawn Staley Award three times each.
Shohei Otani was the AP Male Athlete of the Year for the third time.
