site.btaUPDATED Novak Djokovic Named 2023 Balkan Athlete of the Year in BTA Poll

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic won the 50th edition of the BTA’s Balkan Athlete of the Year annual poll on Monday. Basketball players Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Aleksandar Vezenkov (Bulgaria) rounded out the top three.

The award for Djokovic was presented to Serbian Ambassador Željko Jović by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and Sports Minister Dimitar Iliev. The award ceremony took place at the Museum of Sport at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.

Among the official guests were the Sports Minister, Bulgarian Olympic Committee President Stefka Kostadinova, former and current athletes, sports executives, representatives of Balkan agencies and others.

The Balkan Athlete of the Year poll is conducted by BTA among the national news agencies in the Balkan countries: Agerpres (Romania), Anadolu Agency (Turkiye), ANA-MPA (Greece), ATA (Albania), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), HINA (Croatia), MIA (North Macedonia), MINA (Montenegro), Tanjug (Serbia).

Novak Djokovic collected 103 points to earn the award for a record eighth time after 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2021. The world No.1 in the world tennis rankings had one of his strongest seasons so far in 2023. He played finals in all four Grand Slam tournaments, winning titles at the Australian, French and US Open and subsequently ending his campaign with a trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Nikola Jokic is second in the poll with 72 point. The Serbian basketball player triumphed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship with the Denver Nuggets and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the NBA Finals.

Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar Vezenkov ranked third with 38 points. He was named Euroleague MVP for the 2022-2023 season and played a final with Olympiacos in the most prestigious club tournament in Europe, losing dramatically to Real Madrid. In the summer he signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings and became the second Bulgarian in history after Georgi Glouchkov to compete in the NBA.

Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou ranked fourth with 36 points as he became world outdoor champion and European indoor champion in 2023, while world long jump champion Ivana Spanovic (Serbia) was ranked at the fifth position with 35 points.

Italian motorcycle racer Francesco Bagnaia got 32 points and the sixth position as he became the 2023 MotoGP World Riders’ Champion. Turkish volleyball player Melissa Vargas ranked seventh with 31 points. She helped her national team to win the European title and was voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

World high jump champion and European Games gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) earned 27 points for the eight position.

Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast Boryana Kaleyn was ranked ninth with 21 points. Kaleyn won gold in the individual all-around at the European Championships, as well as the world and European team title with the Bulgarian national team. In the individual competitions at the World Championships she took silver on clubs and ribbon while at the European Championships she added silver on clubs and bronze on hoop.

World and European champion in double sculls Simona Radis (Romania) ranked tenth with 19 points.

A total of 58 athletes received votes in this year's poll, with the Bulgarians including European weightlifting champion in the 89kg category Karlos Nasar, who also set a new world record in the snatch, and 2023 World Karate Championships silver medalist (in women’s 55 kg) Ivet Goranova.

Nasar shared the 25th place in the rankings with 8 points and Goranova was 49th with 2 points.

The full list of the athletes in the poll:

1.       Novak Djokovic (Serbia) - tennis                             103

2.       Nikola Jokic (Serbia) - basketball                             72

3.       Aleksandar Vezenkov (Bulgaria) - basketball        38

4.       Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece) - athletics                 36

5.       Ivana Španović  (Serbia) – athletics                         35

6.       Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) – motorcycling               32

7.       Melissa Vargas (Türkiye) - volleyball                       31

8.       Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy) - athletics                       27

9.       Boryana Kaleyn (Bulgaria) - rhythmic gymnastics   21

10.   Simona Radiș (Romania) - rowing                                19

11.   Jannick Sinner (Italy) - tennis                                        18

12.   Pietro Sighel (Italy) - short track                                     14

13.   Luiza Gega (Albania) - athletics                                                  12

14.   Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) - tennis                     12

15.   Thomas Cecon (Italy) - swimming                        12

16.   Federica Brignone (Italy) - alpine skiing               11

17.   Anna Korakaki (Greece) – shooting                     11

18.   Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) - artistic gymnastics 11

19.   Laura Fazliu (Kosovo) - judo                    10

20.   Amir Rrahmani (Kosovo) - football        10

21.   Kristjan Asllani (Albania) - football       10

22.   Distria Krasniqi (Kosovo) - judo                            9

23.   Tuğba Danışmaz (Türkiye) - athletics     9

24.   Dauren Kurugliev (Greece) - wrestling     9

25.   Carlos Nassar (Bulgaria) – weightlifting                  8

26.   Mete Gazoz (Türkiye) – archery                            8

27.   Nora Gjakova (Kosovo) - judo                8

28.   Hakan Reçber (Türkiye) - taekwondo     8

29.   Cătălin Chirilă (Romania) - canoe            7

30.   Milan Trajkovic (Cyprus) - athletics         7

31.   Adem Asil (Türkiye) - artistic gymnastics                  6

32.   Giovanni Cernogoraz (Croatia) - shooting          6

33.   Martin i Valent Sinković (Croatia) – rowing  6

34.   Nenad Dulović (Montenegro)  - karate  6

35.   Olivia Fotopoulou (Cyprus) - athletics       6

36.   Constantin Popovici (Romania) - high diving    5

37.   Edin Džeko (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - football  5

38.   Lisa Vittozzi (Italy) - biathlon                               5

39.   Alexandros Ioannis Ginnis (Greece) - alpine skiing         5

40.   Dejan Georgievski (North Macedonia) - taekwondo  4

41.   Marco Golubic (Croatia) - taekwondo                  4

42.   Alvin Karaqi (Albania) - karate                4

43.   Lana Pudar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – swimming                      4

44.   Džanan Musa (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - basketball                  4

45.   Charalambos Chalkiadakis (Greece) - shooting                            4

46.   Loredana Toma (Romania) - weightlifting                                  3

47.   Eljif Elmas (North Macedonia) - football                                                3

48.   Sofia Raffaeli (Italy) - rhythmic gymnastics              3

49.   Ivet Goranova (Bulgaria) - karate                                             2

50.   Nemanja Majdov (Serbia) - judo                               2

51.   Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) - wrestling               2

52.   Mario Herzonja (Croatia) - basketball                  2

53.   Irene Kontou (Cyprus) - karate                                2

54.   Tin Srbic (Croatia) - artistic gymnastics                              1

55.   Ahmad Magomedov (North Macedonia) - Wrestling      1

56.   Ali Sofuoğlu (Turkiye) - karate  1

57.   Kyriaki Kouttouki (Cyprus) - taekwondo  1