Top Male Athlete of the Year is revealed by AP after banner seasons from Shohei Ohtani and Scottie Scheffler
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Los Angeles Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani may not be everyone's pick of Athlete of the Year, but he's got a pretty good hold on both sides of the Pacific thanks to baseball's first 50/50 season and his first World Series crown. The Japanese superstar caps 2024 by winning The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the third time, tying him with basketball great Michael Jordan. He trails only four-time winners Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and LeBron James.
![[Scottie Scheffler, whose wins this year included the Masters and an Olympic gold, was third]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/24/13/93456613-14224355-image-a-18_1735047333850.jpg)
'I'm very honored,' Ohtani said through translator Matt Hidaka in an exclusive interview with the AP. 'Obviously all the hard work has paid off. Maybe next year, I'll get the award again.'. Swimmer Léon Marchand of France, who won four gold medals at the Paris Olympics, was second with 10 votes in balloting announced Monday. Golfer Scottie Scheffler, whose victories this year included the Masters and an Olympic gold medal, was third with nine.
![[Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, September 19]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/24/13/93456599-14224355-image-a-19_1735047470301.jpg)
Remarkably, the two-way star has yet to pitch for the Dodgers since signing his then-record $700 million deal with the club before the 2024 season. However, after rehabbing his second Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow, Ohtani is believed to returning to the mound, where he's finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting as recently as 2022, when he was with the crosstown Angels.
![[Swimmer Léon Marchand of France , who won four gold medals, was second with 10 votes]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/24/13/93456713-14224355-image-a-21_1735047528544.jpg)
