SEATTLE — The 2024 edition of the Seattle Sports Stars of the Year Awards Show will have some notable headliners.
Seahawks legend K.J. Wright will be the host of the 89th annual event, put on by the Seattle Sports Commission (SSC). The event is scheduled for Feb. 15 at The Westin Seattle.
American soccer star and longtime Reign player Megan Rapinoe will also be presented with the Paul G. Allen Humanitarian Award for her work away from the field.
“I’m honored to be receiving the Paul G. Allen award this year,” Rapinoe said. “As I look back on my career, I’m most proud of the work I’ve done off the pitch and so much of that work started and grew in Seattle. This city has become my home and I’m grateful for its continued love and support.”
Rapinoe was awarded a 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom and has used her influence as a platform for LGBTQ+ rights, pay equity and racial justice.
The SSC previously announced the honorees for February's event, which included ice hockey great Guyle Fielder, retired Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone, youth softball enthusiast Olivia Vitello and Rise Above, a nonprofit empowering Native youth.
The commission has yet to announce the recipients for the most anticipated awards of the ceremony – Seattle Sports Star and Story of the Year. The public can help the nominations committee pick winners by voting from Jan. 15-22, 2024.
Fielder was awarded the Royal Brougham Sports Legend Award. Fielder spent 15 of his 22 years in professional hockey with the Seattle Totems, helping them to Western Hockey League championships in 1959, 1967 and 1968.
He holds career records in minor league hockey and is the only professional American hockey league player to score over 2,000 points.
Stone won the Keith Jackson Media Excellence Award. Stone spent 27 years with the Seattle Times and became what the commission called “one of the most trusted voices in sports.” Before retiring in 2023, Stone won numerous awards, including being named Washington Sportswriter of the Year three times.
Vitello won the Wayne Gittinger Inspirational Youth Award. Despite Vitello’s diagnosis with the rare genetic disorder Morquio syndrome, Vitello is an active seventh grader who loves softball. Her family also created the I Can And I Will Run fundraiser to help others.
Rise Above won the Sports Equity and Inclusion Award. The nonprofit uses sports to engage Native youth in building skills and resilience. Other programs include education, financial literacy and mentorship. The organization has served 10,000 kids in the Pacific Northwest over the last eight years.
KING 5 will broadcast the 89th annual Sports Star of the Year Awards in February.