PHOTO: Bildbyrån
In 2022, Armand Duplantis established himself as one of the world’s best athletes.
Nevertheless, he was completely without a prize when the Sports Gala celebrated the best Swedes.
“I am ashamed of the jury’s unimaginable lack of tact,” reads the next statement.
It was an absolutely unparalleled year of success in 2022 for Armand Duplantis who won just about everything he put his mind to. The 23-year-old swept the course with the world’s elite in pole vaulting, winning WC indoor and outdoor gold, EC outdoor gold, overall victory in the Diamond League and breaking a bunch of world records just by speed.
Mondo nobbed
But despite the incredible dream season, “Mondo” was still completely blown away when the Sports Gala summed up the sports year 2022 and praised the very best Swedes. Duplantis was nominated in a number of different categories but each time saw himself defeated by the skating fan Nils van der Poel who took the grand slam.
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Van der Poel beat Duplantis in the categories “Male Athlete of the Year”, “Performance of the Year” and the Achievement Gold. And in the voting for the prestigious Jerring Prize, Mondo was only third, after the aforementioned van der Poel and the rider Henrik von Eckermann.
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“A disaster”
Criticism has since been great against the Idrottsgalan’s jury and the choice to nob Duplantis completely. Now comes the next step in the debate.
“Armand Duplantis was the world’s second best athlete in 2022. Only Lionel Messi was better. However, Duplantis did not receive an award at the Sports Gala this week. It must be the biggest brain drain of all time by the jury. Or are they just completely incompetent? I am ashamed of the jury’s unimaginable lack of common sense and therefore want to apologize to Duplantis!”, writes Arne Carlsson in an angry submission to Göteborgs-Posten.
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He still thinks that van der Poel was a worthy winner at the Sports Gala, but that Armand Duplantis should be noticed in some way.
“Nils van der Poel certainly deserved all the accolades. Congratulations Nils! But to overlook perhaps the world’s best athlete of all time, on the level of Usain Bolt, is nothing but a total disaster!”, writes Arne in his submission to the local newspaper.
“The sports event has shot itself in the foot and should be shut down!”
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READ MORE: Clear giant anger towards the Sports Gala – after “lousy” behavior towards Armand Duplantis: “Mondo was deceived”