New York, NY (Monday, July 3, 2006) - An unprecedented seven U.S. Ski and Snowboarding athletes have been nominated for the 14th Annual ESPY Awards highlighting sports top moments and performances in the past year. Those nominated are Olympic snowboarders Hannah Teter (Belmont, VT), Shaun White (Carlsbad, CA) and Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO), Olympic skiers Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) and Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), plus Paralympians Steve Cook (Salt Lake City, UT) and Laurie Stephens (Wenham, MA).

All award winners are determined by popular vote, entered by logging on to wwwww.espys.tv or espn.go.com/espy2006. Voting closes at midnight on July 8.

Reigning Olympic halfpipe champions Hannah Teter and Shaun White lead the charge, each receiving three nominations. In just a few short years as a pro, Teter has become one of the most influential female riders in the world with multiple career victories in the U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix, X Games and World Cup tour. She is nominated for Best Olympian, Best Female Athlete and Best Female Action Sports Athlete.

White, the most recognized name in action sports, is nominated in the categories of Best Olympian, Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Male Action Sports Athlete. In 2006, the red-headed phenom completed the perfect season sweeping all five U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix halfpipe events, the X Games halfpipe and the U.S. Open halfpipe and slopestyle titles.

Fellow rider Gretchen Bleiler also captured the overall Grand Prix title in ’06 with victories in four out of five events before winning the Olympic silver medal in halfpipe. The double X Games halfpipe champion (’03, ’05) carries a nomination for Best Female Action Sports Athlete.

Olympic combined gold medal skier Julia Mancuso joins Teter, White and fellow Olympic combined gold medalist Ted Ligety in the category for Best Olympian. Mancuso’s ’06 breakout season included three World Cup podiums prior to the Olympics, while Ligety added four World Cup podiums of his own, including a career first victory in giant slalom after the Olympics.

Nominated in the category of Best Female Athlete with a Disability is Laurie Stephens, who dominated ’06 Paralympics with gold medal performances in downhill and super G along with a silver medal in giant slalom. She also captured the World Cup overall, SG and GS titles and holds a U.S. record in swimming.

Fellow ’06 Paralympian Steve Cook received the nomination for Best Male Athlete with a Disability for accumulating three medals in Torino. His gold medal victories in the 5K and 10K races, plus a bronze in the 20K classic bring his career total of Paralympic medals to seven.

The 2006 ESPY Awards, hosted by Lance Armstrong, air Sunday, July 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.