It’s been one heck of a year in sports, to say the least.
We had the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series for the first time since 1908, Cleveland finally winning a title again thanks to the Cavaliers, Peyton Manning riding off into the sunset with a Super Bowl title and much, much more.
So it must have been a pretty difficult task for Sports Illustrated to come up with just 12 contenders for its annual Sportsperson of the Year award, which was given to women’s tennis star Serena Williams in 2015.
Five athletes who starred in the 2016 Rio Olympics are contenders, including Michael Phelps (men’s swimming), Katie Ledecky (women’s swimming), Simone Biles (women’s gymnastics), Usain Bolt (track and field) and Breanna Stewart (women’s basketball).
The Chicago Cubs, LeBron James, Vin Scully, Stephen Curry, Leicester City, Jimmie Johnson and Von Miller are the seven other contenders.
Thumbnail photo via Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports Images