The LGBTQ+ sports website Outsports named WNBA star Brittney Griner as its 2022 Person of the Year.
Some of the previous honorees include figure skater Adam Rippon, former NFL player Michael Sam, soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe and current pro-football player Carl Nassib.
Outsports stated, in part, "In January [2022], Brittney Griner was well-known mainly in basketball circles as a WNBA superstar. By mid-February, she was about to become a cause celebre and a symbol of people held unjustly around the world."
On Feb. 17, Griner was held at a Moscow airport for possessing vaping cartridges that contained hashish oil. She pleaded guilty in July, was sentenced to nine years in a Russian gulag in August and was released last month in a prisoner swap.
Outsports added, "In the 10 months between her arrest and her release, Griner became a Rorschach test that exposed racism, misogyny and homophobia among many Americans."
Since her release, Griner and her wife have repeatedly spoken up for the release of another U.S. resident, Paul Whelan, who remains in a Russian prison.