Caitlin Clark shocked Serena Williams never won ESPY for best record-breaking performance

Caitlin Clark won a pair of ESPYs on Thursday night.

Like a number of her collegiate honors, it wasn’t the first time she had captured one of the ESPY awards. Clark was honored as the best women’s college athlete, topping LSU gymnastics star Haleigh Bryant, Wisconsin volleyball star Sarah Franklin and Northwestern lacrosse star Izzy Scane for the award.

Clark had won the ESPY for best women’s college athlete in 2023 as well.

But, Clark made some ESPYs history on Thursday night. With her ESPYs win for best record-breaking performance, Clark became the first woman to capture the award.

On Friday, Clark and the Indiana Fever were gearing up to play host to the Phoenix Mercury later that night. In the pregame press conference, Clark was asked what it meant to be recognized as the first woman to capture the best record-breaking performance ESPY.

Clark was certainly honored, but she also couldn’t believe she was the first woman to win the award. And she thinks she probably shouldn’t have been either.

“Yeah, I didn’t know that until my little brother sent it to me this morning. I think it’s super cool. I think it probably shouldn’t have been the first woman to ever win that award in my eyes just because I grew up supporting so many different female athletes that I idolized and I loved. The amount of records that I saw people break and win. Like, to me, how did Serena Williams never win that award?

“That’s crazy just thinking about things like that, but, I mean, hopefully it’s the start to women getting more recognition and their accomplishments being recognized a little bit more. Obviously, it’s cool. But yeah, it’s not something you would have guessed honestly. But, for me, it’s just something I’m really grateful for,” Clark said.

The fact that Clark is the first woman to win the award is sort of crazy when you think about.

Serena Williams is arguably the greatest women’s athlete of all time. During her dominance of women’s tennis, Williams racked up 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

There’s been plenty of other great female athletes since the ESPYs were introduced in 1993, too.

It’s great to see Clark pay homage to one of the other all-time great female athletes in Serena Williams. As a lifetime supporter of women’s athletics, it’s not surprising in the least from Clark.