PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Armand Duplantis had an unparalleled year in 2022.
But at the Sports Gala, the big star was still completely without a prize.
Which has caused great anger around sports Sweden.
Few can measure up Armand Duplantis absolutely incredible year 2022. The Swedish superstar in pole vaulting won WC gold both indoors and outdoors, EC gold outdoors, overall victory in the Diamond League and broke a new world record several times over.
“Mondo” nodded
The 23-year-old was also named the world’s second best athlete in 2022, beaten only by the megastar Lionel Messi who won World Cup gold with Argentina. But at home in Sweden, Duplantis did not receive a single award when the Sports Gala was to reward the year’s best athlete.
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Instead, it was the skating fan Nils van der Poel who took a grand slam when he won a total of four awards in the form of Male Athlete of the Year, Performance of the Year as well as the heavyweight awards Bragdguldet and Jerringpriset. But “Mondo”, who was there, was not allowed to come on stage and receive the people’s cheers even once.
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“He was deceived”
It has now aroused strong reactions around sports Sweden.
“Those responsible for the Sports Gala behaved injudiciously towards Duplantis”, writes Lars Helenefors in a submission to Dagens Nyheter.
“He is so superior in his sport that when all the other best have exhausted themselves, he raises the bar 20 centimeters – and jumps over. He has won the Olympics, WC, EC and he has been kind-hearted to compete for Sweden. He is known throughout the world and has put Sweden on the sports map”.
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Lars, who describes himself as having “70 years of experience in the sports world”, is above all irritated by the way the Sports Gala treated Duplantis. The Swedish world star should be recognized in some way, even if he didn’t win an award.
“He was tricked into coming to the Sports Gala. Nothing wrong with giving the superb skater Nils van der Poel the awards he received. But could no one have invited Armand Duplantis up on stage and congratulated him with a bunch of flowers and applause from a standing audience and explained his enormously extreme feats?”, he writes in his submission.
READ MORE: People’s favorite Jacob Hård’s big criticism of the Sports Gala – now points out the clear miss: “It feels very strange”
Armand Duplantis did not get the respect and the praise he deserves after an incredibly impressive season, Lars Helenefors believes and directs great criticism at the Sports Gala.
“It is lousy and untalented by many who proved to lack judgment and common sense. Those responsible for the gala managed to give Armand Duplantis a real kick in the shin,” he writes and concludes his reasoning.
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