In the survey of 50 experts of the magazine “Sporta Avīze”, boxer Mairis Briedis has been convincingly recognized as the best athlete of Latvia in 2020, informs SA.
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The best athlete in Latvia in the SA version was determined for the 25th time. The 50 experts who were able to vote unanimously in the survey for men, ladies, individual teams, sports teams and national teams have traditionally included top government officials, sports policy makers, former sports stars, coaches, sports journalists and, for the first time, the magazine’s most trusted readers. There was no intrigue in the fight for the first place this time – 27 of the surveyed experts named Mairi Briedis the best, who last year fought with Junier Dorticos after a long period of preparation, adding Muhammad Ali’s trophy for winning the World Boxing Super Series, International Boxing Federation ) champion belt as well as The Ring magazine belt.
Meanwhile, for the remaining places in the top six, a fierce battle fought until the last vote was collected, because after 46 voters there were just two points between the third place and the sixth. In the end, the second place was won by the goalkeeper Elvis Merzļikins, who surprised the National Hockey League (NHL), to whom only one of the 50 experts won, but a large number of eligible voters gave the third or fourth position. The third place was taken by the men’s volleyball team, followed by Kristaps Porziņģis in the fourth place. The fifth was Dāvis Bertāns, but the five-time survey champion Martins Dukurs was only one point behind. These two athletes are the only ones who entered the top six years ago, moreover, Bertāns from Rūjiena has remained on the same step. Toms Skujiņš, who was much more convincingly shortly before the end of the survey, but Dukurs lost only one and a half points in the end, was immediately behind the special ones after the vote of 50 experts.
Despite the particularly busy work schedule during the emergency, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, whose favorites were Briedis and Bertāns, also found an opportunity to participate in the survey. Former Presidents Vaira Vike-Freiberga and Raimonds Vējonis also submitted their votes, but Guntis Ulmanis, after much deliberation, expressed the opinion that since the pandemic had virtually stopped sports in 2020, athletes were not given an equal opportunity to express themselves and abstained. ranking in the best. Mārtiņš Staķis, the leading mayor of Riga for the first months, also expressed his thoughts, highlighting the city’s strongest football club “Riga FC”.
“2020 was a test for all of us. It was also very difficult for the print press, but sports media had to be especially creative to keep their readers interesting even when sporting events around the world came to a halt, the Tokyo Olympics and the European Football Championship were postponed. For several months last year, Sporta Avīze was the only printed sports media that continued to be published, excitingly reporting on sports personalities and current affairs.The Sporta Avīze survey was conducted for the 25th time and is now the only one that identifies the best athlete in our country. will continue in 2021, “says Gatis Madžiņš, editor – in – chief of the publishing house” Dienas mediji “.
The best Latvian athletes of 2020 in the survey of 50 experts of Sporta Avīze:
1. Mairis Briedis, boxing (271 points; 27 first places)
2. Elvis Merzlikins, hockey (110 points; first place)
3. Latvian volleyball national team (103.5 points; first four places)
4. Kristaps Porziņģis, basketball (102.5 points; 5.5 first places)
5. Dāvis Bertāns, basketball (91.5 points; 1.5 first places)
6. Martin Dukurs, skeleton (90.5 points; first three places)
