There was a completely new winning face for the women. © Ognibeni/DLife

Athlete of the Year: These are South Tyrol's best

On this Friday evening the time had come: As part of the big Sporthilfe Gala in the magnificent Merano Kurhaus, the athlete, as well as the team and the coach of the year, were chosen. There could literally only be one winner among the men, but an absolute premiere was celebrated among the women.

05 April 2024

From the Kurhaus in Meran

For the 36th time this has happened Tagblatt Dolomites We looked for the most successful and popular athletes - and found them with the help of countless readers' votes. Based on their achievements in the 2023 calendar year, the best athletes, teams and coaches were honored on Friday evening in Meran.

Grabbed from the women Evelin Lanthaler for the first time in her long and incredibly successful career as a natural track luger. The seven-time world champion and overall World Cup winner from the Passeier Valley pushed biathlon queen Dorothea Wierer off the throne with 19.329 votes. With 14.516 votes, she narrowly missed defending her title and winning sixth place in the athlete election. Volleyball player Raphaela Folie (8.647) took third place behind Wierer.

A very clear matter, how could it be otherwise, was the choice of athletes among the men. With an incredible 54.800 votes Jannik Sinner at the top of readers' favor for the third time in a row.

State Sports Councilor Peter Brunner (l.) and Athesia media director Harald Werth (r.) with second-placed Dominik Paris and Hanspeter Sinner, the father of election winner Jannik Sinner. © Ognibeni/DLife

The tennis superstar, who led Italy to the Davis Cup triumph for the first time in 47 years in November and recently climbed to second place in the world rankings, was able to shake off a three-time athlete of the year in Dominik Paris (5.210). Behind “Domme” there was another ski ace on the podium, Florian Schieder (4.804).

The closest decision in this year's election was that of Team of the Year. He cleared there FC Sudtirol After its sensational debut season in Series B, 27.595 votes were cast, while the second-placed overall artificial track luge World Cup winners Andrea Vötter and Marion Oberhofer received 24.728 preferential votes. The snowboarders Nadya Ochner and Aaron March took third place from last year's ICE finalists HC Bozen.

Jannik Sinner also had his influence on the election for Coach of the Year. Namely because with Simone Vagnozzi his success coach won the prize. Ex-FCS South Tyrol coach Pierpaolo Bisoli, Much Maier (ski), Alexander Inderst (biathlon), Roland Platzer (ski) and Jürgen Prantner (handball), who were elected to the following places, also received a lot of recognition.



Here we provide the honor roll of all athletes of the year: