Williams is the first solo woman to win the award since 1983.
Serena Williams, who won three major tennis titles in 2015, was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated Friday.
Yu Tsai for Sports Illustrated
Regardless of Williams' accolades, some fans of horse racing were furious that Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was, as they put it, "snubbed" for the award normally reserved for humans.
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"I am disappointed to announce Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion American Pharoah has not been named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year Award for 2015. Instead the award went to tennis star, Serena Williams. Despite an overwhelming victory in the fan vote by American Pharoah, maybe this sad announcement should come as no real surprise. [...] Sports Illustrated, your agenda is showing."
Other fans on Twitter decried Sports Illustrated's refusal to count horse racing as a legitimate sport and claimed to intend to cancel their subscriptions to the magazine.
It is true that American Pharoah won the SI fan vote for Sportsmammal of the Year, but a magazine's editorial decisions are not a democracy, and Serena was given the title over the horse.
It's probably safe to say that jockey Victor Espinoza could tell American Pharoah [sic] that he won the award anyway.
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