Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition.

The awards are also sometimes called player of the year, most valuable player (MVP), sportsperson (sportsman or sportswoman) of the year, or Mr./Ms. X sport. For example, at the high-school level in the United States, several American states choose a Mr. Basketball (e.g., Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin). Such awards — general and one-sport-only — are common at the high-school, college (university), and professional levels in the United States.

This lists a sampling of awards dedicated to a specific country.

Because these awards are given by American organizations, the winners are usually, but not always, Americans. Also, the presence of the word "Sportsman" in the name of an award does not imply that the award is open solely to men; women have frequently won these awards.

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions. In doing so he has twice equaled the record eight medals of any type at a single Olympics achieved by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. His five gold medals in individual events tied the single Games record set by compatriot Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics; his eight at the 2008 Beijing Games surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at Munich in 1972. Phelps' Olympic medal total is second only to the 18 Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina won over three Olympics, including nine gold. Phelps also holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals, at 14.