Matti Mattsson hid a message in the baton for Iivo Niskanen, who was awarded Sportsman of the Year. Iivo Niskanen said that he plans to read the message only on Friday.
A new tradition started at the sports gala on Thursday.
The athlete of 2021 was chosen by a swimmer Matti Mattsson wrote a letter to the sportsman of the year the following day, which was hidden in a baton.
Mattsson held out his hat Iivo Niskanen, when he came to pick up the Athlete of the Year award on stage. This is how Olympic champion Niskanen showed off his victory, in addition to the Uno award, with the baton in hand.
The intention is that the tradition will continue in the coming years as well. Next year, it will be Niskanen’s turn to write a message to the next Athlete of the Year.
The letter was already reported on the TV broadcast of the Sports Gala, when Tokyo bronze medalist Mattsson was interviewed. At that time, Mattsson was still mysterious about the content of his message.
Now Urheilu has received permission to publish the content of Mattsson’s message. You can read it below.
Big congratulations to you Athlete of the Year 2022! I was given the honor of writing you a message and thus starting a new tradition. This award is recognition for all the work you have done as an athlete and as a person. Enjoy this and make the most of the evening! You have deserved it!
The year 2021 was my most successful year so far. In April, I improved my Finnish record for the first time in almost eight years. In May, I was able to repeat this in the EC competitions in both the preliminary and semi-finals. My ranking was fourth then. Then in July, at the Tokyo Olympics, everything fell into place and the famous “fool’s day” happened on the day of the competition. For the final, I didn’t pack the clothes intended for the award ceremony, even though I knew that only the sky was the limit. That’s how superstitious I am. Well, the rest is history then.
All this success brought me last year to this very moment where you are now. I had just won the Athlete of the Year award. I thought to myself, now I did it! After the 2013 World Cup medal, I won the Breakthrough of the Year award and was among the top three in the Athlete of the Year voting. That’s when I decided that one day I too would stand there with my hand up in the rain of confetti. And there it was, wow! The next day, my friend sent me a picture of Kampi on WhatsApp, where a picture of me and the Sportsman of the Year awards had been placed in my honor – huh, huh! You don’t come across these every day, or even every year.
Finally, I would like to wish you success in the future as well. And so, as an athlete, I can say to another athlete that the most important thing in the absence of all awards and honors is that you yourself are satisfied with your own performance and success. Everything else comes on that side.
Once again, good luck Athlete of the Year 2022!
hoping,
Athlete of the year 2021 Matti Mattsson.
Iivo Niskanen said in an interview with on Thursday evening that he would not read the message until Friday.