LAUSANNE – Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson-Herah has been named the AIPS Best Female Athlete of 2021. This is the result of a poll by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), where a panel of 529 journalists from 114 countries voted for the Champions of 2021.
Thompson-Herah received the top honor for the female, while Bayern Munich and Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski was been named the AIPS Best Male Athlete of 2021.
Who was the best female athlete in 2021?
This is the first time Thompson-Herah, who won three gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, after retaining her Olympic 100m and 200m titles, claimed the award having topped the AIPS poll for the female category with 605 points.
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The Jamaican sprinter finished ahead of Barcelona and Spain’s women’s Ballon d’Or winner, Alexia Putellas (490 points), and Venezuela’s world triple jump record-holder and Olympic gold medalist Yulimar Rojas, who received 346 points.
Thompson-Herah was named the World Female Athlete of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2021 earlier this month. Her outstanding 2021 season was highlighted by world-leading times of 10.54 and 21.53 over 100m and 200m respectively, which moved her up to second on the world all-time lists for each sprint discipline.
Other athletics stars joining Thompson-Herah and Rojas in the top 10 are Kenya’s Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who secured the gold medals in the 5000m and 10,000m in Tokyo in addition to winning a 1500m bronze medal.
Meanwhile, joining Lewandowski in the top 10 for the men’s award are Norway’s Karsten Warholm, who was named the World Athletics Male Athlete of the Year, and other world record-holders and Olympic champions Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.
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Lewandowski tallied 435 points to retain the AIPS best male athlete crown he won for the first time last year. The Polish striker finished ahead of the 2021 Formula One World Champion, Max Verstappen, who ended with 349 points, and seven-time Balon D’or winner, Lionel Messi, who had 314points.
TOP TEN – AIPS Best Female Athlete of 2021
- Elaine Thompson–Herah (Athletics) – 605
- Alexia Putellas (Football) – 490
- Yulimar Rojas (Athletics) – 346
- Naomi Osaka (Tennis) -297
- Emma Raducanu (Tennis) – 267
- Emma Mckeon (Swimming) – 257
- Faith Kipyegon (Athletics) – 200
- Angelina Melnikova (Artistic Gymnastics)-191
- Mikaela Shiffrin (Alpine Skiing) – 191
- Sifan Hassan (Athletics) – 183
- Ashleigh Barty (Tennis) – 152
TOP TEN – AIPS Best Male Athlete of 2021
- Robert Lewandowski (Football) – 435
- Max Verstappen (Formula 1) – 349
- Lionel Messi (Football) – 314
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Football) – 296
- Karsten Warholm (Athletics) – 291
- Novak Djokovic (Tennis) – 289
- Aron Szilágyi (Fencing) – 281
- Armand Mondo Duplantis (Athletics) – 243
- Eliud Kipchoge (Athletics) – 207
- Lewis Hamilton (Formula 1) – 203
