Athletes with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and blindness are joining sports megastars Dirk Nowitzki, Shaun White and Serena Williams on the list of nominees for ESPN’s annual ESPY awards.
Five standout athletes are nominated in each of two disability-specific categories, one honoring men and one for women. They include Steve Wampler, who last year became the first person with cerebral palsy to scale Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan, in addition to a triathlete who’s blind and a world-champion wheelchair racer with spina bifida.
Winners of the the ESPY awards, honoring the best in sports for 2011, will be announced during a live show July 13 hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers on ESPN.
In advance, members of the public can vote for their favorite athletes or sports-related events in more than two dozen categories online through July 9.
