The chairman of the committee responsible for selecting Ida Hulko as swimmer of the year explains how the best in the sports are named.
On Monday, the Association of Sports Journalists published its list of the best athletes in the sports of 2023. The Federation’s Athlete of the Year committee nominates the best athletes of the sports based on the past year’s achievements and competition success.
The swimmers were rated as the best Ida Hulkkowhose last year’s achievements were missed by many Veera Kivirinna and Matti Mattsson’s into the shade.
Hulkko did not participate in the short-course European Championships and in the long-course World Championships he was 21st in the 50-meter breaststroke and 24th in the 100-meter breaststroke. In the fall, Hulkko reached the final places in the World Cup, for example in Budapest, where he was sixth.
Kivirinta swam fifth in the 50-meter breaststroke at the short-course European Championships and was 13th in the long-course World Championships over the same distance. Mattsson was tenth in the 200 meter breaststroke at the World Championships.
On Monday, Hulkko took a stand on behalf of Kivirinna.
– Thank you very much for choosing me as swimmer of the year. However, I would like to highlight the real swimmer of 2023, Veera Kivirinna. Last year this title didn’t belong to me, it belonged to Veera, Hulkko wrote in the message service X.
The swimming legend also presented his views Jani Sievinen.
– How can I trust the athlete of the year selections for other sports? Would it have been worth asking about the sports association? Sievinen wrote on Threads.
“You have to start making viral videos”
Veera Kivirinta, contacted by Urheilu on Tuesday, was disappointed with the choice of swimmer of the year.
– I wonder very much, on what basis the selection was made. When you think about our last year, I did really well. In the World Championships, there was a further place and a record, Fifth place in the EC final. Not to take anything away from Ida, but she didn’t have a good year. He didn’t get a further place at the World Championships and wasn’t even there at the European Championships, Kivirinta said.
It was great for Kivirinna that Hulkko took up the issue on social media.
– Ida and I talked about this yesterday and wondered a lot. I thought the choice would have been between me and Matti Mattsson, but neither of us is there.
Hulkko is known as an active social media personality. Kivirinta wonders if Hulko’s number one status is related to visibility on social media.
– If you can become the swimmer of the year because you don’t even have to do well, if it’s all about dressing up, you should probably start making some viral videos and shrug anyway. That’s not my idea of sports and confiscating the result, Kivirinta said.
– Very special and, in my opinion, also speaks of the journalists’ professionalism, if such a choice has been made.
This is how the choice was made
This year, the best of the year was nominated in 82 sports. You can read the list in this story.
Chairman of the Athlete of the Year Committee of the Association of Sports Journalists Matti Hannula says that in the committee, each journalist has approximately ten types of responsibility, the best of which the person in question finds out and chooses.
– Then we collect and look through them together, if someone has something to point out other than their own sport. In this case, nobody had anything to say about the proposal of the person responsible for swimming.
After Hulko brought up the choice on social media, Hannula asked the person in charge about the swimming choice. Kivirinta had been included in the editor’s papers.
– But in his opinion, Kivirinta was not even the second best after Hulko. There’s really nothing to say about that. We will not start dealing with these again based on one athlete’s message, says Hannula.
– Of course, I understand that Hulko has a strong opinion on the matter. Apparently, this traditional short track and long track emphasis difference has also been involved in this sport equivalent. He has then ended up in Hulkko.
The Athlete of the Year, chosen by the sports journalists’ union’s vote, will be announced on Thursday at ‘s televised Sports Gala. The broadcast on TV2 starts at 8 p.m.