Every year, the Women’s Sports Foundation holds a Salute to Women in Sports event, where they name the Sportswoman of the Year — one for individual sports and one for team sports. This year’s finalists are to be judged based on their performance from August 22nd, 2016, to July 31st, 2017.
Katie Ledecky and Paralympic Swimmer Becca Meyers are finalists in the individual sport category, and Olympic water polo team member Maggie Steffens is a finalist for team sports.
In the last year, Ledecky’s highlights include six gold medals at the 2017 FINA World Championships, as well as nine American- and 12 NCAA-record swims as a freshman at Stanford.
Myers broke three world records in her three gold medal swims in the S13 class at the 2016 Paralympic Games last September, and was honored with the Best Female Athlete with a Disability Award at the ESPY’s in July.
Steffens was part of the USA gold medal squad at Worlds in July, where she personally racked up 11 goals and 14 assists. Additionally, she took the Stanford team to an NCAA title upset over #1 seeded UCLA in May, and was named the NCAA Tournament MVP.
You can vote for your favorite finalist here.
Here’s the complete list of finalists:
| Individual Sports | Team Sports |
| Heather Bergsma, USA, Speed Skating | Valerie Arioto, USA, Softball |
| Inna Deriglazova, RUS, Fencing | Brianna Decker, USA, Ice Hockey |
| Anna Gasser, AUT, Snowboaring | Heather Erickson, USA, Sitting Volleyball |
| Katie Ledecky, USA, Swimming | Rachel Homan, CAN, Curling |
| Tatyana McFadden, USA, Paralympic Track & Field |
Talita Da Rocha Antunes & Larissa França Maestrini, BRA, Beach Volleyball
|
| Evgenia Medvedeva, RUS, Figure Skating | Lucie Safarova & Bethanie Mattek-Sands, CZE/USA, Tennis |
| Becca Meyers, USA, Paralympic Swimming | Marie McCool, USA, Lacrosse |
| So Yeon Ru, KOR, Gold | Maya Moore, USA, Basketball |
| Mikaela Shiffrin, USA, Alpine Skiing | Maggie Steffens, USA, Water Polo |
| Elaine Thompson, JAM, Track & Field | Elena Meyers Taylor, USA, Bobsleigh |