07/01/2024, 07:41
As usual, Iga Switchtek was not present at the ceremony. The best tennis player in the world is now playing in Australia (photo: press materials)
Iga Swichtek became the best athlete of 2023 in the 89th edition of the “Przegląd Sportowy” plebiscite. The gala was held on Saturday in Warsaw. As last year, the speedway rider Bartosz Zmarzlik took the second place, and the volleyball player Alexander Slivka took the third place. The program was carried out by Polsat and Polsat Sport.
This time there is no doubt that the popularity of football overshadowed the other achievements of Polish athletes. The star of Robert Lewandowski (two-time winner) has faded significantly, he was not even in the top ten. It turned out that only Iga Švičtek and Bartosz Zmarzlik could fight for the first place, who became individual world champions on the speedway for the fourth time this year.
Iga Švičtek won the plebiscite for the second time in a row. This year, he won the Roland Garros Grand Slam for the third time (second in a row). When he lost his title as the world's best tennis player many weeks later, he beat all his opponents in the season-ending Masters tournament. And he regained the first place in the world ranking.
Unlike last year, no one thanked Orléans President Daniel Obatek for his support (they just thanked Orléans for its comprehensive sports sponsorship), the most mentioned figure at the gala. The current Minister of Sports, Slavomir Nitras, awarded the Super Champion to the former captain of the football team, Jakub Blaszczykovski.
The performance of former Olympic speed skating champion Zbigniew Brodka was a hit as he presented the award for ninth place in the plebiscite to the team world champions in “foil, more specifically in epee”.
Those who died this year and in previous years were honored. Among them, journalist Tadeusz Olzanski, who died on September 22 of last year at the age of 94, and was awarded the 100th anniversary medal of the Polish Olympic Association.
Results of the “Przegląd Sportowy” plebiscite for the best athlete of 2023 in Poland:
1. Iga Schwichtek (tennis)
2. Bartosz Zmarzlik (The Speedway)
3. Alexander Shlivka (volleyball)
4. Natalia Kaczmarek (athletics)
5. Piotr Zhila (ski jumping)
6. Wojciech Nowicki (Athletics)
7. Hubert Hurkac (tennis)
8. Martina Klatt, Helena Wisniewska (kayak)
9. Renata Knapik-Miazga, Martina Svatovska-Venglarczyk, Magdalena Pavlovska, Eva Trzebinska (fencing)
10. Adrian Meronc (golf)
Coach of the Year: Nikola Grbich
Team of the Year: Polish national volleyball team
Sports event of the year: Diamond League – Kamila Skolimowska Memorial at Silesia Stadium in Chorzów
Sport without barriers: Witold Skupien
Olympic Hope 2024: Adriana Kakol
Super Champion: Jakub Blaszczykowski
Scholarships of the Minister of Sports and Tourism: Iwona Wojcik-Pietruszka, Jan Sturz, Wojciech Shukiel
Patron of children and youth sports: Orlene
The idea of a plebiscite was born in 1926 at the initiative of the then editor-in-chief of “Przegląd Sportowy”, Kazimierz Wierzynski.
Over the years, the winners of the plebiscite were the legendary Polish athletes – Halina Konopacka, Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, Janusz Kusoczynski, Vaclav Kuchar and Stanislaw Marusarz, as well as Irena Sewinska, Janusz Siedlowski, Ryszowski, modern Rzeżyckowicz heroes marched in Justyna Kowalczyk, Otilia Jedrzejczak, Adam Mali He, Robert Lewandowski, Anita By Vladarczyk, Kamil Stoch, Bartosz Kurek, and Bartosz Zmarzlik.
“Przegląd Sportowy” plebiscite is the second oldest competition of its kind in the world. A year earlier (in 1925), the Swedish newspaper “Svenska Dagbladet” started awarding prizes to the best athletes or team of the year in their country.
(MAC, 07/01/2024)
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