New Hampshire’s Mikaela Shiffrin Wins ESPY: Women’s Athlete of the Year

A New Hampshire hometown hero has made the Granite State extremely proud over the weekend, winning a national award from ESPN.

The Golden Globes are to actors as the ACMs are to country singers, but what about athletes?

The ESPY award is short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award, according to ESPN. It is an award ceremony that takes place every year for athletes and teams.

This year, people from New England, especially New Hampshire, have something to be proud of.

Mikaela Shiffrin, raised in Lyme, New Hampshire, has been making her mark on women's alpine skiing. Though born in Vail, Colorado, Shiffrin got her skiing legs in the Northeast. She attended Dartmouth College (in New Hampshire) and skied all over the Granite State and Vermont growing up.

In total, she has won 88 career World Cup victories, including a 14-win World Cup season this year, according to an NBC Sports article.

Because of her successful year, Shiffrin was awarded the ESPY for being the Best Athlete in Women's Sports. During her acceptance speech, she seemed humbled and excited about what her future as a skier holds.

“Through failure and through success, it’s been a long journey, and it’s not over yet,” the 28-year-old said in her acceptance speech. “This season was absolutely incredible, and there was a lot of talk about records. It got me thinking, ‘Why is a record actually important?’ And I just feel like it’s not important to break records or reset records. It’s important to set the tone for the next generation to inspire them.”

Her full speech is below: