Facts: The winners at the sports gala
Team of the year: Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson, table tennis.
Leader of the year: Johan Röjler, skating.
Newcomer of the Year: Linn Grant, golf.
Sports Academy’s honorary award: Magdalena Forsberg.
Sports mirror prize: Jonatan Hellvig, David Åhman, Rasmus Jonsson, Anders Kristiansson.
Male athlete of the year: Nils van der Poel, ice skating.
The Fair Play Award: The Heroes’ Association.
Female athlete of the year: Sarah Sjöström.
Judge’s prize: Glenn Boström.
Pepper of the year: Fuzed.
Performance of the year: Nils van der Poel.
The Jerring Prize: Nils van der Poel.
The world’s best pole vaulters can look back on a year of WC gold both indoors and outdoors. There was also EC gold and three new world records.
But at the Sports Gala it was not enough.
— It was a great gala, but from the perspective of athletics, you are a little disappointed. It had been hoped that Mondo might get some prize along the way, says the Swedish national athletics team’s captain, Kajsa Bergqvist.
Armand Duplantis was defeated in all the categories he was nominated in: male athlete of the year, performance of the year and the Jerring prize. All three were won by former figure skater Nils van der Poel.
— When it’s an Olympic year, it’s difficult. Nils performance was absolutely outstanding so there is not much to say about it. But every sport has its own little universe and in the world of athletics, “Mondo” is the biggest thing that has happened since Usain Bolt. There is no one who has had that impact internationally and who is ranked so high when you compare sports against each other, says Kajsa Bergqvist.
Kajsa Bergqvist. Archive image.
She continues:
— It feels a little unfair that he leaves this gala without going on stage once.
Has won before
Duplantis, like van der Poel, has dominated the Sports Gala. In 2020, he won the Jerring Award, male athlete of the year and performance of the year.
— He has been up there (on stage) before. It probably matters that he has received some awards before. When it’s an Olympic year, winter or summer, it hits very hard. It’s just like that, says Bergqvist.
Before the gala, Duplantis highlighted the tough competition.
— There is tough competition this year. It’s not like 2020 when it was covid and it was almost only me who competed. It’s a bit different but it’s always cool to be here, he says.