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Dominic Thiem has succeeded resigned serial winner Marcel Hirscher as Sportsman of the Year. The tennis star won the election held by the sports journalists association Sports Media Austria (SMA) ahead of footballer David Alaba. In the women’s category, athlete Ivona Dadic also had a first winner, and the team championship was won for the third time in a row by soccer champions Red Bull Salzburg.
The winners were honored on Tuesday at the Sporthilfe-Gala Lotteries at Marx-Halle in Vienna and received the NIKI, a trophy named after Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda, who died last year. The gala, generally a social highlight of the Austrian sports community, was held without an audience this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With Thiem, the favorite prevailed among the men. The 27-year-old won his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, was in the final of the Australian Open and is number three in the world rankings. After three seconds and two third places, he won 1,183 points ahead of Alaba (447), who won in 2013 and 2014, and ski jumper Stefan Kraft (410). It’s the biggest advantage in 18 years when winner Stephan Eberharter was 1,140 points ahead of runner-up Fritz Strobl.
“I am very happy and I would also like to congratulate the other elite athletes. More than one athlete deserves this award each year. I’m happy to be in line with the really greats now. The names on the winners list are impressive. And being here now is a great honor, “explained Thiem, who had previously been immortalized in the” Path of the winners. “The one from Lower Austria is the third tennis player after Thomas Muster (1990, 1995) and Jürgen Melzer (2010) to receive this honor.
Dadic is already the fifth athlete after Liese Prokop in 1969, Ilona Gusenbauer in 1971, Theresia Kiesl in 1996 and twice Stephanie Graf (2000, 2001), who is number one in the polls carried out since 1949. The heptathlete established a Unofficial world record for hours and an annual world record this year. After second places in 2016 and 2018, this gave her a clear first place with 915 points ahead of ski jumper Chiara Hölzl (567) and last year’s winner Vanessa Herzog (speed skating / 390).
“I’ve been second twice already and I’m glad I managed to become Athlete of the Year,” said Welser, 26. “If you look around you, you can see that this year there were also many very special achievements. This Niki is a special motivation for me for next season with the Olympics being the highlight, ”said Dadic.
The soccer series champion RB Salzburg also continued the winning streak in the athlete selection and was the first team to achieve the hat trick. The champion, cup winner and Champions League entrant scored 811 points ahead of LASK (395) and the KTM motorcycle team (374) for the third time in a row. “This award is very special for us and shows that we are on the path we have taken years ago. It means a lot to the whole team, ”defender Andreas Ulmer said on behalf of the whole team.
The awards for athletes and athletes with disabilities were for alpine skiers. In the women’s category, the blind Veronika Aigner and her sister Elisabeth Aigner won as guides, and in the men’s category, Markus Salcher was voted Athlete of the Year for the third time after 2014 and 2017. “I watch the Sporthilfe gala every year and I think, ‘Wow, I wish I had a trophy like this one day.’ I never thought they would allow me to be here today. I’m very happy, ”said Veronika Aigner.
In the Special Olympics category, speed skater Sabrina Bichlmair and skier Lukas Kaufmann won. As an athlete with heart, record soccer player Nina Burger was honored for her “home soccer” project.
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