For the 75th time, Germany’s sports journalists have chosen the athlete and team of the year. Tennis player Alexander Zverev and the women’s track cycling four were honored for the first time, long jumper Malaika Mihambo for the third time in a row.
For tennis player Alexander Zverev, being honored as athlete of the year is the culmination of his most successful season to date. The 24-year-old won the Masters in Madrid and Cincinnati in 2021, the ATP Finals in Turin and above all, he won gold in the men’s singles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo – as the first German ever. “I am extremely happy with what I experienced, especially in this difficult one, because everything is going on in the world with Corona,” said Zverev.
The award for Sportsman of the Year is the first for German men’s tennis since Wimbledon champion Michael Stich in 1991. Icon Boris Becker won four times (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990). Swimmer Florian Wellbrock landed in second place, while ski jumper Karl Geiger came in third.
Title hat trick for Mihambo
Long jumper Malaika Mihambo from Oftersheim near Heidelberg was awarded for the third time in a row. Before her, only the tennis player Steffi Graf succeeded in doing this at the end of the 80s. The wrestler Aline Rotter-Focken from Triberg in the Black Forest came second, canoeist Ricarda Funk, who starts for Bad Kreuznach, third.
First Olympic gold in long jump in a long time
Mihambo won Olympic gold in 2021 after a nerve-wracking final. Before her last attempt, she was third, then she jumped seven meters and thus 21 years after Heike Drechsler to an Olympic long jump victory. “Well, I have to say that for a long time the external goals in the form of medals have actually not driven me that much anymore, but that I see the sport more as an inner championship to get better, to grow, to get ahead and at the same time I am just curious and I want to know how far I can jump at all. And to answer this question, I continue to train hard. “
Women’s four-wheel track awarded for the first time
Team of the year was the women’s track cycling foursome ahead of the dressage team and the men’s table tennis team. The four-man became European champion, world champion and in the line-up Franziska Brauße, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kröger Olympic champion in the team pursuit with a world record time. It was the first gold in German women’s track cycling in the supreme discipline.
Gala with hygiene measures
The event in the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden took place with strict hygiene measures and fewer guests than usual due to the corona. Around 200 guests were invited. 980 sports journalists took part in the election.