Women won big at Wednesday's 2025 ESPY Awards, with star athletes from across women's sports earning top honors for outstanding performances over the past year.

Leading the charge was seven-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles with ESPYS for both Best Athlete, Women's Sports and Best Championship Performance for her trio of golds at last summer's Paris Games.

"Six-year-old me, who first started tumbling on my parents' sofa in the living room, is floored to be standing before you right now," Biles shared in one of her speeches.

Biles's Team USA teammate Suni Lee, who brought her doctor to the awards, won Best Comeback Athlete after battling kidney disease to return to top the Olympic podium.

The night's Best Breakthrough Athlete was USA Rugby star and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Ilona Maher, who used part of her speech to encourage young women and girls, telling them to "Take up space. Pitch it faster. Run harder. Put another plate on the bar. And never tone it down."

Also snagging honors as the top athletes in their respective sports were Coco Gauff (Best Tennis Player), Caitlin Clark (Best WNBA Player), Katie Taylor (Best Boxer), and JuJu Watkins (Best College Athlete, Women's Sports).

Meanwhile, USWNT icon Alex Morgan and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi shared this year's Icon Award in recognition of the new retirees' impacts on their respective sports.

"Our mission has always been very similar," Morgan said in her acceptance speech alongside Taurasi. "We fought to leave our game in a better place than where we found it."

Off-court efforts earn 2025 ESPY Awards

Sports leaders whose impact surpassed the proverbial playing field also took home trophies on Wednesday night.

In recognition of her foundation's commitment to promoting diversity and providing tennis opportunities to underserved communities, US legend Sloane Stephens won this year's Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award.

Later, Penn State volleyball head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley earned a standing ovation alongside her Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.

Schumacher-Cawley, who became the first woman to helm a national title-winning volleyball team by leading her Nittany Lions to the 2024 NCAA Championship last December, did so while battling breast cancer.

"Cancer changed my life, but it didn't take it," said an emotional Schumacher-Cawley. "It didn't take my belief, it didn't take my spirit, and it didn't take my team."

Women's sports came up big in last week's 2025 ESPY Awards nominations, as superstars like WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson, USWNT attacker Mallory Swanson, US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, and others vie for the annual honors.

The Las Vegas Aces forward earned spots on the shortlists for both Best WNBA Player as well as Best Athlete: Women's Sports, where she's up against Biles plus US track and field icons Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark will also compete for Best WNBA Player alongside Wilson, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, with Clark also topping the Best Record-Breaking Performance shortlist.

Women's soccer also stole the spotlight, with the USWNT earning a Best Team nod while forward Mallory Swanson nabbed Best Comeback. Fellow Triple Espresso star Trinity Rodman's Olympic quarterfinal overtime goal also snagged a nomination for Best Play.

Dating back to 1993, the ESPYS recognize the most impactful sports stories of the year, including Best Player, Best Comeback, and Best Team.

This year's women's sports nominees feature several 2024 winners, including Clark (Best College Athlete, Best Record Breaking Performance), Biles (Best Comeback Athlete), and Wilson (Best Women's Sports Athlete, Best WNBA Player).

Individual women and women's teams across the sports world will be on hand when the awards hit the red carpet later this month, with the likes of US rugby star Ilona Maher, US gymnast Suni Lee, golfer Nelly Korda, US ski legend Lindsey Vonn, NCAA basketball standout JuJu Watkins, and tennis icons Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka among the 2025 nominees.

How to watch and vote for the 2025 ESPY Awards

The 2025 ESPY Awards will kick off on July 16th at 8 PM ET, airing on ABC.

Fan voting for the awards will close three hours before the start of the ceremony.

Thursday's 2024 ESPYs doubled as a celebration of the rising popularity of women's sports, as retired tennis superstar Serena Williams hosted the proceedings with ease.

"Get up, get off the TikTok, work hard, find out how capable you are. Be great. Be so great they don't want to believe in you and then be even greater," she told the next generation at the end of her opening monologue.

Women's sports take center stage at ESPYs

Athletes in women's sports were big winners throughout last night's ceremony, reflecting a watershed year across the entire sporting landscape.

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark took home both the Best College Athlete and Best Record Breaking Performance Awards for her historic NCAA career at Iowa.

USC star JuJu Watkins won Best Breakthrough Athlete after an exceptional freshman season with the Trojans.

Gymnast Simone Biles won Best Comeback Athlete, as the two-time Olympian prepares for her third Summer Games later this month.

Las Vegas Aces' all-time leading scorer A'ja Wilson came up big in both the Best Women's Sports Athlete and Best WNBA Player categories.

The undefeated 2023-24 South Carolina Gamecocks won the award for Best Team.

Dawn Staley honored with individual award

SC coach Staley picked up her own honor, receiving the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for her continued contributions in the field of cancer research advocacy.

Named after NC State men's basketball coach Jim Valvando, the Jimmy V Award recognizes "a deserving member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through perseverance and determination."

"I must confess, I feel a little undeserving of this recognition," Staley said in her acceptance speech. "Past recipients of the Jimmy V Perseverance Award have faced incredible challenges and proven themselves as true warriors. I have merely been a spectator to such immense courage and resilience."

After opening up about her family's personal connection to the cause, Staley spoke about her greater journey as an advocate, both on and off the court.

"I try my best to do things in the right way, knowing that some little girl is out there watching me... maybe, she's one of the 13 pairs of eyes that see every little thing I do everyday and make sure to comment on it, that's my team," she said, motioning to her undefeated Gamecocks squad seated in the audience.

"How do I not fight pay disparity, when I do the same job and get paid less but win more?" she continued. "I can't ask them to stand up for themselves if I'm sitting down. Nor can I ask them to use their voice for change if I'm only willing to whisper."