The president of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), Gianni Merlo, apologized for the fact that the organization had forgotten Alexandra Bolshunov and other Russians when compiling the list of candidates for the role of the best athlete of the year.
In total, the organizers of the award announced four nominations: “Best Athlete”, “Best Athlete”, “Best Team of the Year” and “Best Press Object”. Among the nominees for the title of “Best Athlete of the Year” there was not, in particular, Russian skier Alexander Bolshunov, who won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
– Russian journalists can vote in the same way as everyone else. Many Russian journalists are members of AIPS, and this is not a problem. I regret that Russian athletes are not on this list. I want to point out that a number of other athletes are not there either. When the list was edited based on the jury’s opinion, we did not receive a callback from the Russians. We forgot him (Bolshunov), although he won three gold medals at the Olympics, I apologize. But it has nothing to do with politics,” Merlo told a correspondent.
Source : MatchTV
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