Disabled athletes were honored at the 14th Annual ESPY Awards Show in Hollywood, July 12. The ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) recognize outstanding individual and team achievement, and memorable performances in the world of sports during the previous year. Bobby Martin, 17, a football player from Dayton, Ohio, was named Best Male Athlete with a Disability, and triathlete Sarah Reinertsen, 31, of San Diego, was named as Best Female Athlete with a Disability.

Bobby Martin

Sarah Reinertsen

Photos sourtesy of Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

Other nominees in the disabled category included Steve Cook, 37, a Nordic skier based in Salt Lake City; Anthony Robles, 17, a wrestler from Mesa, Ariz.; Rachael Scdoris, 21, a legally blind sled dog racer from Bend, Ore.; and Laurie Stephens, 22, a sit-skier from Wehham, Mass.

Bobby Martin, three feet tall, and 112 pounds, was born without legs and moves his body by propelling himself with his arms. A former member of the wrestling team, Bobby came close to winning a state championship several years ago. This year, he tried out for football and made special teams and backup nose tackle. His assistant coach, Kerry Ivy, has said that if Bobby had legs, Division I schools would be recruiting him. “After 10 minutes, you forget he has no legs,” he said. In addition to playing on special teams and as a backup nose tackle for his high school football team, he is a starter on the JV, and is a shot putter.

Sarah Reinertsen, 31, is the first amputee to complete the Ironman Championship in Hawaii, finishing the race in just over 15 hours. She also became the first woman amputee to finish the 2005 Ford Ironman World Championship. Besides marathons and triathlons, Sarah also competes in bicycle races. Featured on the covers of magazines such as Runners World and Triathlon, Sarah is a marketing coordinator at Ossur Prosthetics and Orthotics, and a spokesperson for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Sarah was born with a bone-growth disorder, and became an above-the-knee amputee at the age of 11. She began running track, and first broke the 100-meter world record for female AK amputees when she was 13. A native of Huntington, N.Y., she now lives and trains in San Diego.

Steve Cook, a BK amputee, is a four-time Paralympian, and won three medals at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino including, a gold in men’s 5km freestyle; gold in men’s 10k classic; and bronze in men’s 20km classic. He began cross-country skiing in 1995, and has an impressive list of accomplishments including: 2005 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Champion (10k and 20k); 2005 World Cup Champion in cross-country; 2002 Paralympic Winter Games four-time silver medalist; and 2003 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championship bronze medalist. He also is an avid cyclist, and joined fellow Paralympic teammates in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, beating the entire field of able-bodied relay teams. When he is not skiing, biking, or fishing, Steve manages the service department of Contender Bicycles in Salt Lake City.

Anthony Robles, born with only one leg, went undefeated over his last two years of wrestling competition, winning the Arizona 5A state championship in each season. He qualified for Senior Nationals, and won the 112-pound weight class. Named 2006 Arizona High School Wrestler of the Year, he recently signed a letter of intent to be a student-athlete at Arizona State University.

Laurie Stephens, who was born with spina bifida, was one of the most decorated athletes in the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games. She earned gold medals in super G and downhill, and a silver in giant slalom. Among her accomplishments: 2005 World Cup Super G Champion; 2004 and 2005 World Cup Overall Champion; 2004 and 2005 World Cup Giant Slalom Champion. She also is an accomplished swimmer, setting records in both 100m and 200m backstroke. Laurie is majoring in therapeutic recreation at the University of New Hampshire.

Rachael Scdoris, who was born with congenital achromatopsia, a condition that restricts her vision to 20/200, became the first legally blind musher to bring a sled dog team more than 1,100 miles from Anchorage to Nome. It was her second try at the Iditarod; she scratched in 2005 when a team dog became sick. Rachael has been sled dog racing since age 11, and at age 15 became the youngest athlete to ever finish a 500-mile sled dog race when she completed the Pedigree International State Stop Race in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Photo courtesy of Adaptive Action Sports

Nicole Roundy, 20, of Salt Lake City, won a silver medal in the adaptive slopestyle snowboarding competition at the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) National Championship at Northstar-at-Tahoe in Truckee, Calif., March 25-April 1. She was sponsored by Adaptive Action Sports (AAS). Nicole is a newcomer to adaptive snowboarding, only learning the sport in 2005 when she attended the “Un-limb-ited” Ski and Snowboard Camp at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, sponsored by Shriners Hospitals.