Honestly, looking back at the sports calendar for 2025, it kinda feels like we were just living in a video game simulation. Usually, when the end-of-year awards roll around, there's this heated debate at the bar or on social media about who actually deserves the crown. But for athlete of the year 2025, the conversation basically started and ended with two names that redefined what "peak performance" even looks like.
We're talking about A'ja Wilson and Shohei Ohtani.
It’s rare. You don’t often see two people in completely different sports simultaneously decide to break every record within reach just because they can. While the Associated Press and TIME Magazine eventually made their picks official, the real story is how these two managed to make everyone else look like they were playing in slow motion.
Why A'ja Wilson basically owned 2025
A'ja Wilson didn't just play basketball in 2025; she orchestrated a masterpiece. When TIME named her the athlete of the year 2025, it wasn't just because she’s good at putting a ball in a hoop. It was because she became the first player in history—man or woman—to sweep the MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards while leading the league in scoring.
Think about that for a second.
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The Las Vegas Aces were sitting at a mediocre .500 record mid-season. People were actually talking about a "regression." A’ja took that personally. She led the team to 16 straight wins to close the season and then swept through the finals like it was a warm-up drill.
She's 29. She’s already being compared to Michael Jordan and LeBron James, not just in terms of stats, but in how she carries the entire culture of her sport. You’ve probably seen the "Thanos" photos—Wilson wearing the golden gauntlet with the championship rings. It’s not just a meme; it’s a fairly accurate representation of her season. She collected everything.
The Ohtani factor: Redefining the impossible
Then you have Shohei Ohtani. He grabbed his fourth AP Male Athlete of the Year title, tying him with legends like Tiger Woods and LeBron.
What makes Ohtani’s 2025 so weirdly impressive is that we’ve almost become numb to his greatness. He hit 55 home runs. He pitched scoreless innings in the postseason. He led the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series titles. At this point, if Ohtani started winning Olympic gold in shot put, we’d probably just shrug and say, "Yeah, sounds like a Tuesday for Shohei."
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The voters for the athlete of the year 2025 awards clearly valued consistency and "clutch" factor. Ohtani’s Game 7 performance in the World Series was basically the exclamation point on a season where he shouldn't have even been that good, considering he was still working back into a full pitching rotation.
Beyond the Big Two: The world of 2025 sports
If we move away from the American-centric awards, the Laureus World Sports Awards gave us a better look at the global stage. Armand "Mondo" Duplantis finally got his due.
- Mondo Duplantis: The man broke the pole vault world record for the eleventh time. ELEVENTH. He’s essentially competing against gravity at this point, and gravity is losing.
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: She stayed undefeated for two straight years in the 400m and 400m hurdles. It’s at the point where her races aren't about who wins, but by how many seconds she'll destroy the field.
- Simone Biles: Even in 2025, she was still taking home Laureus Sportswoman of the Year honors. She is the literal definition of longevity in a sport that usually chews people up by age 20.
What most people get wrong about these awards
A lot of people think "Athlete of the Year" is just about the stats. It’s not. If it were just stats, we could let an AI pick the winner in five seconds.
The 2025 honors were about narrative. It was about A’ja Wilson facing "regression" rumors and coming back to win a third title in four years. It was about Ohtani proving that his massive contract wasn't just a business move, but a guarantee of a dynasty.
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The technical side of greatness
If you look at the voting breakdown for the AP awards, Ohtani took 29 of the 47 ballots. That’s a landslide. The other votes went to guys like Mondo Duplantis and Carlos Alcaraz. On the women’s side, Wilson beat out Aryna Sabalenka and Paige Bueckers.
It shows a shift. We’re moving away from awarding the "best player on the best team" and moving toward rewarding "the player who changed the game."
Actionable insights for the future
If you're a sports fan or a bettor looking ahead to 2026, there are a few things to keep in mind from this year’s results:
- Watch the "Return" Narratives: Athletes who overcome injury or "slumps" (like Wilson) have a huge edge in year-end voting.
- Versatility is King: Ohtani’s two-way dominance is the new gold standard. Keep an eye on multi-disciplinary athletes in track and field or "hybrid" players in the NBA/WNBA.
- Global vs. Domestic: Awards like Laureus lean heavily into Olympic sports and global icons, while AP and TIME often reflect the cultural zeitgeist in North America.
To wrap this up, the athlete of the year 2025 wasn't a single person—it was a year where the bar for "greatness" was pushed so high it’s actually kind of scary. Whether it was A'ja Wilson dominating the court or Ohtani rewriting the baseball history books, 2025 was the year of the untouchables.
Next steps: If you want to see these legends in action before the next cycle, keep an eye on the 2026 World Baseball Classic rosters and the upcoming WNBA expansion news. Both Wilson and Ohtani have already stated they aren't done yet.