Los Angeles, July 18: Serena Williams was honoured as female athlete of the year and female tennis player of the year at sports broadcaster ESPN's 11th annual Espy Awards, a year after she accepted the same trophies on behalf of older sister Venus.
Tiger Woods was male golfer for the fourth consecutive year, giving him a total of 15 awards. He didn't attend the show hosted by comedian Jamie Foxx at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. He is in England for the British Open, which began yesterday.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong was chosen male athlete of the year over baseball slugger Barry Bonds, NBA star Tim Duncan and Woods, who had won the last three years. Armstrong is attempting his record fifth Tour de France this month.
Three years ago, he was chosen comeback athlete after beating testicular cancer.
Serena Williams recently defeated Venus to win her second straight Wimbledon title and is 40-1 at major tournaments dating to the 2001 French Open. She defeated Venus for the female tennis player award, one of 17 categories decided for the first time by fan votes on the internet.



Williams was the only double winner during the two-hour show. She beat out Lisa Leslie, Sweden's Annika Sorenstam and Connecticut basketball player Diana Taurasi for the female athlete award, which pits athletes from different sports against each other.



Williams thanked her divorced parents, who didn't attend. "They really broke their backs and their wallets and everything else for me and my sister to have this opportunity," she said.


Bureau Report