ESPN has announced Tuesday that the next recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award will be anchor Robin Roberts. Past recipients of this award include Pat Summitt, Billie Jean King and Muhammad Ali. Roberts will be honored at the 2013 "The ESPYS" on July 17, which air live on ESPN.
Roberts is noted as one of the trailblazers for women in the world of sports media and broadcasting. She was one of the first female anchors on ESPN in the '90s. She later moved on to work at ABC's Good Morning America, where she has been for the past two decades. Her personal story has become an inspiration to many and ESPN plans to recognize the strength and courage she has displayed throughout her life.
"Robin brings an amazing amount of energy, compassion and determination to everything she does. Those qualities made her an incredible asset during her time here at ESPN, and they have served her well as she battled the terrible health challenges that she's had to face," ESPN president John Skipper said.
Roberts began her career in sports playing four seasons for the Southeastern Louisiana University Lady Lions basketball team. She ranks among the team's leaders for points scored, rebounds, field goals made and games played. She held several anchor and reporter positions among the Southeast after graduation before she took a job at ESPN anchoring SportsCenter and NFL Primetime in February of 1990.
During her time at ESPN, she took on additional roles including hosting ABC's Wide World of Sports and serving as a play-by-play announcer for tennis and figure skating. She became the first woman to host an NFL pregame show during the playoffs. She began working on feature stories for Good Morning America in 1995 before stepping in as a co-anchor in 2005. She has held that role ever since. Roberts is an Emmy Award winner and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
In 2007, Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer, empowering viewers with her journey to beat the disease. She was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder five years later and received a bone marrow transplant from her sister.
"Her unbreakable spirit was ingrained from an early age in Mississippi," ABC News president Ben Sherwood said.
ESPN's "The ESPYS" are an award show that honors the network's commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a partnership launched by the late coach, Jim Valvano in 1993. The show airs live from the Los Angeles Staple Center.
