20 Jun 2019

Four New Zealanders nominated for ESPYS

4:23 pm on 20 June 2019

New Zealand footballer Abby Erceg, mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya, snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and IndyCar driver Scott Dixon are all up for awards at the 2019 ESPY Awards.

Left to right: Abby Erceg, Israel Adesanya, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Scott Dixon

Left to right: Abby Erceg, Israel Adesanya, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Scott Dixon Photo: Photosport/IndyCar

Abby Erceg is up for the Best American National Women's Soccer League (NSWL) player award alongside Lindsey Horan, Adrianna Franch and Sam Kerr.

Erceg, currently playing for New Zealand at the Women's Football World Cup in France, has played for the North Carolina Courage since 2017, making over 52 appearances and scoring three goals.

Israel Adesanya is up for Best Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighter alongside men's UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo and UFC women's bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Adesanya is the UFC interim middleweight title holder after beating Kelvin Gastelum in April via unanimous decision.

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is up against skier Kelly Sildaru, fellow snowboarder Chloe Kim and surfer Stephanie Gilmore for Best Female Sports Athlete.

Sadowski-Synnott is the current slopestyle world champion, US Open slopestyle champion and 2019 Winter X Games gold medallist - also in the slopestyle.

In 2018 she won bronze at the Winter Olympics in the Big Air event.

Scott Dixon is up for the Best Driver award - he faces stiff competition from Formula One champion, Lewis Hamilton, American drag racer Steve Torrence and Nascar driver Steve Torrence.

Dixon is the reigning IndyCar champion and was recently named in the New Zealand Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Also up for awards are tennis stars Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, golfers Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods, basketballers Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, footballers Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil Van Dijk and American gymnast Simone Biles.

The winners of the 29th ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on 11 July NZT.