Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson Of The Year: By The Numbers

A look at some of the past Sportsperson of the Year award winners by the numbers.

Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year has been awarded since 1954 to the "athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." The 2017 award has been given to Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.

Watt is the first NFL player to win the honor since Peyton Manning was named the 2013 Sportsman of the Year. Watt earned the honor after he raised more than $37 million for Hurricane Harvey relief.

Altuve was named the American League's Most Valuable Player and helped deliver the Astros' first World Series championship as the city continues to recover from the storm. He is the first baseball player to earn the honor since San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner in 2014. Altuve is the first international recipient of the award since Sammy Sosa shared the cover with Mark McGwire in 1998.

Last year, Cavaliers star LeBron James was named the Sportsperson of the Year after fulfilling his promise to win a championship for the city of Cleveland. 

The 2017 Sportsman of the Year show will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Here we examine notable numbers and notes from the past winners of the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Award:

Individual notes:

First male winner: Roger Bannister, 1954

First female winner: Billie Jean King, 1972

Last man to win: J.J. Watt and Jose Altuve, 2017

Last woman to win: Serena Williams, 2015

No. of individual men who have won the award: 6

No. of individual women who have won the award: 9

Teams that have won the award: 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, 1999 U.S. women's soccer team, 2004 Boston Red Sox

First African-American man to win: Rafer Johnson, 1958

First African-American woman to win: Judi Brown-King, 1987

Multiple-time champions: Tiger Woods (1996 & 2000) and LeBron James (2012 & 2016)

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Who was the last ...?

Last NFL figure to win: J.J. Watt, 2017

Last NBA figure to win: LeBron James, 2016

Last tennis figure to win: Serena Williams, 2015

Last MLB figure to win: Jose Altuve, 2017

Last college basketball figures to win: Mike Krzyzewski and Pat Summitt, 2011

Last swimming figure to win: Michael Phelps, 2008

Last cycling figure to win: Lance Armstrong, 2002

Last golf figure to win: Tiger Woods, 2000

Last soccer figures to win: The 1999 U.S. women's soccer team, 1999

Last speed skating figures to win: Bonnie Blair and Johann Olav Koss, 1994

Last track and field figures to win: Kipchoge Keino and Judi Brown King, 1987

Last gymnastics figure to win: Mary Lou Retton, 1984

Last hockey figure to win: Wayne Gretzky, 1982

Last boxing figure to win: Sugar Ray Leonard, 1981

Last horse racing figure to win: Steve Cauthen, 1977

Last auto racing figure to win: Jackie Stewart, 1973

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No. of winners by sport

Baseball: 18

NFL: 10

NBA: 9

Track and field: 8

Golf: 7

College basketball: 5

Tennis: 4

Hockey: 4

Boxing: 3

College football: 3

Speed skating: 2

Cycling: 2

Swimming: 1

Soccer: 1

Horse racing: 1

Gymnastics: 1

Winners by country

United States: 70

Great Britain: 2

Canada: 1

Dominican Republic: 1

Kenya: 1

Norway: 1

Sweden: 1

Venezuela: 1

First international winner: Roger Bannister (Great Britain) in 1954

Latest international winner: Jose Altuve (Venezuela) in 2017