Big wave surf sensation Maya Gabeira and dual-sport star Shaun White were crowned top action sports athletes at the annual ESPYs in Los Angeles last night.
The annual awards show, put on by global sport network ESPN since 1993, recognises American and International sports athletes for their accomplishments in a host of categories and has come to be one of the sporting world’s most coveted accolades. Red Bull athletes dominated the Best Action sport athlete nominations, with skateboarder Ryan Scheckler and motocross champ James Stewart joining White in the men’s category, and 17-year-old women’s motocross champion Ashley Fiolek nominated along with Gabeira.
White, snowboarding’s most successful and minted stars, won gold medals in two categories at this year’s Winter X-Games. But it’s been White’s increasing prowess as a vert ramp skateboarder that has raised eyebrows in the action sport world. He picked up a bronze medal at the Summer X-Games in the vert ramp, a year after winning gold and just two years after entering competitive snowboarding for the first time. It is White’s fifth ESPY.
For Gabeira, the award caps off a stunning run since becoming the world’s first sponsored female big wave surfer two years ago. A relentless hunter of the world's biggest waves and a three-time winner of the women’s category of the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards, Gabeira scooped up her first ESPY on Wednesday night.
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