In this article, we will explore European Sportsperson of the Year in depth, a topic that has generated a lot of interest and debate in recent times. European Sportsperson of the Year is a broad concept that covers different areas and aspects, from its impact on society to its implications in daily life. Throughout these pages, we will analyze European Sportsperson of the Year from various approaches, providing a complete and detailed vision of this topic that is so relevant today. Likewise, we will examine the historical evolution of European Sportsperson of the Year, its possible future repercussions and the opinions of experts in the field. Regardless of your level of knowledge about European Sportsperson of the Year, this article will provide you with valuable information and invite you to reflect on its importance and relevance in today's world.
The PAP European Sportsperson of the Year (Polish: Ankieta PAP na 10 najlepszych sportowców Europy) is an annual sports award presented by Polish Press Agency (PAP). Both male and female athletes are considered for the award by a panel of 27 international news agencies. The winner is announced each year on the second Christmas Day.
It was founded by Włodzimierz Źróbik and has been awarded annually since 1958. The European Sportsperson of the Year award honours the sportsperson deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by 27 international news agencies. The inaugural winner of the award was Olympic gold medallist Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak who specialized in the 3000 metre steeplechase.
The 27 agencies that are part of the panel are: EFE (Spain) France Presse (France), Agerpress (Romania), ANP (Netherlands), APA (Austria), ATA (Albania), Belga (Belgium), Belta (Belarus), BTA (Bulgaria), CTK (Czech Republic), DPA (Germany), Elta (Lithuania), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), HINA (Croatia), LETA (Latvia), Lusa (Portugal), Moldpres (Moldova), SDA-ATS (Switzerland), SHGSK (Kosovo), SID (Germany), Sita (Slovakia), STA (Slovenia), Tanjug (Serbia), TASS (Russia), Ukrinform (Ukraine) and PAP (Poland).
The most wins are held by representatives of track and field sports (24), followed by tennis (14) and Formula 1 (9). Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are the most successful individual winners with five victories, while Valeriy Brumel and Michael Schumacher hold three victories each. In 2005, Roger Federer and Yelena Isinbayeva were declared joint winners. So far, 47 male and 17 female athletes received the title of PAP European Sportsperson of the Year.
List of past winners from 1958 to 2010: Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (Poland, 1958), Vasili Kuznetsov (USSR, 1959), Yury Vlasov (USSR, 1960), Valeriy Brumel (USSR, 1961, 1962, 1963), Lidiya Skoblikova (USSR, 1964), Michel Jazy (France, 1965), Irena Kirszenstein (Poland, 1966), Jean-Claude Killy (France, 1967, 1968), Eddy Merckx (Belgium, 1969, 1970), Juha Väätäinen (Finland, 1971), Lasse Virén (Finland, 1972), Kornelia Ender (East Germany, 1973), Irena Szewińska (Poland, 1974), Kornelia Ender (East Germany, 1975), Nadia Comăneci (Romania, 1976), Rosemarie Ackermann (East Germany, 1977), Vladimir Yashchenko (USSR, 1978), Sebastian Coe (Great Britain, 1979), Vladimir Salnikov (USSR, 1980), Sebastian Coe (Great Britain, 1981), Daley Thompson (Great Britain, 1982), Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia, 1983), Michael Gross (West Germany, 1984), Sergey Bubka (USSR, 1985), Heike Drechsler (East Germany, 1986), Stephen Roche (Ireland, 1987), Steffi Graf (West Germany, 1988, 1989), Stefan Edberg (Sweden, 1990), Katrin Krabbe (Germany, 1991), Nigel Mansell (Great Britain, 1992), Linford Christie (Great Britain 1993), Johann Olav Koss (Norway, 1994), Jonathan Edwards (Great Britain, 1995), Svetlana Masterkova (Russia, 1996), Martina Hingis (Switzerland, 1997), Mika Häkkinen (Finland, 1998), Gabriela Szabo (Romania, 1999), Inge de Bruijn (Netherlands, 2000), Michael Schumacher (Germany, 2001, 2002, 2003), Roger Federer (2004), Roger Federer and Yelena Isinbayeva (Switzerland and Russia 2005), Roger Federer (Switzerland, 2006, 2007), Rafael Nadal (Spain, 2008), Roger Federer (Switzerland, 2009), Rafael Nadal (Spain, 2010).
Country | Number |
---|---|
Soviet Union | 9 |
Germany[note 2] | 9 |
Great Britain | 8 |
Switzerland | 6 |
Poland | 5 |
Serbia | 5 |
East Germany | 4 |
France | 3 |
Finland | 3 |
Belgium | 2 |
Romania | 2 |
Russia | 2 |
Spain | 2 |
Portugal | 2 |
Czechoslovakia | 1 |
Ireland | 1 |
Sweden | 1 |
Norway | 1 |
Netherlands | 1 |
The winner of this prize, which has been awarded since 1958 by the Polish agency PAP, is chosen by the votes of journalists representing each of agencies.
Tennis star Andy Murray, who won Wimbledon and Olympic gold in a year that saw him top the world rankings, was voted second. Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu, who bagged three golds and a silver at the Rio Olympics (setting a new world record and Olympic record in the process) was voted third.
27 Euro media agencies have selected the Real Madrid striker as their sportsperson of the year, the first time a football player has been awarded the prize.
It's the second consecutive year that Cristiano has received this award, which since 1958 has been awarded by the Polish PAP agency. On this occasion, the Real Madrid player received 159 points, beating Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton (143) and tennis players Roger Federer (124) and Rafa Nadal (113).