Olimpia Award

The Olimpia Award is a sport award in Argentina, given every year by the Argentine Sports Journalists' Circle since 1954.

An Olimpia de Plata (Silver Olimpia) is awarded to one of the candidates of each one of the 41 sports disciplines. Among the Silver winners an Olimpia de Oro (Golden Olimpia) is awarded to the most important sportsperson of the year.

The current categories are: chess, athletics, auto racing, basketball, baseball, billiards, bocce, boxing, cestoball, cycling, equestrianism, fencing, football (soccer), futsal, gymnastics, golf, handball, field hockey, rink hockey, judo, kayaking, motorcycling, motorboating, Padel Tennis, rowing, skating, skiing, swimming, pato, pelota, rugby union, softball, squash, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, turf, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and yachting.

The football Olimpia is considered the official Player of the Year of Argentina,^{[citation needed]} though it also includes foreign footballers playing in Argentina.

History

The first Golden Olimpia award was given to Juan Manuel Fangio in 1954 in the Luna Park stadium, and the first woman to receive it was tennis player Norma Baylon in 1962, who reached 8th place in that year's world rankings. Other individual women to win the Olimpia de Oro were tennis player Gabriela Sabatini in 1987 and 1988 and roller skaters Nora Vega in 1995, Andrea Noemí González in 1998, and field hockey player Cecilia Rognoni in 2002. The women's national field hockey team, known in Argentina as Las Leonas, won the award collectively in 2000, becoming the only team so honored to date.

Boxer Santos Benigno Laciar is the only person to receive 3 consecutive Golden Olimpias, in 1982, 1983 and 1984, by conquering and retained the world flyweight title. Tennis player Guillermo Vilas also received 3 golden awards, in 1974, 1975 and 1977. The only other people with consecutive Golden Olimpias are Sabatini and basketball player Manu Ginóbili, who won the award by himself in 2003 and shared it in 2004. Four others have received 2 Olimpias de Oro: golfer Roberto de Vicenzo in 1967 and 1970, rower Alberto Demiddi in 1969 and 1971, Diego Maradona in 1979 and 1986, and Rognoni as a member of Las Leonas in 2000 and by herself in 2002.

The Olimpia de Oro has only been shared once in its history—in 2004, with Ginóbili sharing the honors with footballer Carlos Tévez.

The only Olimpia de Platino (Platinum Olimpia) was awarded at the end of the 20th century to Diego Maradona, as the best sports-person of the century.

The award consists of a 37-cm-high metallic statue designed by sculptor Mario Chiérico.

Olimpia de Oro winners

Year	Winner	Sport
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Auto racing (Formula One)
1955	Pascual Pérez	Boxing
1956	Jorge Bátiz	Cycling
1957	Pedro Dellacha	Football
1958	Osvaldo Suárez	Athletics (long distances)
1959	Luis Thompson	Boxing
1960	Rodolfo Hossinger	Gliding
1961	Luis Nicolao	Swimming
1962	Norma Baylon	Tennis
1963	Juan Carlos Dyrzka	Athletics (400 metres)
1964	Carlos Moratorio	Equestrianism (eventing)
1965	Bernardo Otaño	Rugby union
1966	Horacio Accavallo	Boxing
1967	Roberto de Vicenzo	Golf
1968	Nicolino Locche	Boxing
1969	Alberto Demiddi	Rowing
1970	Roberto de Vicenzo	Golf
1971	Alberto Demiddi	Rowing
1972	Carlos Monzón	Boxing
1973	Horacio Iglesias	Swimming
1974	Guillermo Vilas	Tennis
1975	Guillermo Vilas	Tennis
1976	Juan Carlos Harriot	Polo
1977	Guillermo Vilas	Tennis
1978	Daniel Martinazzo	Roller hockey
1979	Diego Maradona	Football
1980	Sergio Víctor Palma	Boxing
1981	Marcelo Alexandre	Cycling
1982	Santos Benigno Laciar	Boxing
1983	Santos Benigno Laciar	Boxing
1984	Santos Benigno Laciar	Boxing
1985	Hugo Porta	Rugby union
1986	Diego Maradona	Football
1987	Gabriela Sabatini	Tennis
1988	Gabriela Sabatini	Tennis
1989	Eduardo Romero	Golf
1990	Pedro Ruben Decima	Boxing
1991	Oscar Ruggeri	Football
1992	Diego Degano	Swimming
1993	Marcelo Milanesio	Basketball
1994	Julio César Vásquez	Boxing
1995	Nora Vega	Roller skating
1996	Carlos Espínola	Windsurfing
1997	José Meolans	Swimming
1998	Andrea Noemí González	Roller skating
1999	Gonzalo Quesada	Rugby union
2000	Las Leonas	Field hockey
2001	José Cóceres	Golf
2002	Cecilia Rognoni	Field hockey
2003	Manu Ginóbili	Basketball
2004	Manu Ginóbili	Basketball
	Carlos Tévez	Football
2005	David Nalbandian	Tennis
2006	Germán Chiaraviglio	Athletics (pole vault)
2007	Ángel Cabrera[1]	Golf
2008	Juan Curuchet	Cycling
	Walter Pérez	Cycling
2009	Juan Martín del Potro	Tennis
2010	Luciana Aymar	Field hockey

Notes and references

1. ^ "Cabrera named Argentine Sportsperson of the Year". European Tour. 2008-01-03. http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pagegid=%7B5A258B31%2D8294%2D4C0E%2DB8B9%2DA796F6009E52%7D&newsid=520232&date=12%2D31%2D2007&listPageName=ET+TourNews+%2D+Latest+News. Retrieved 2008-01-13. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Círculo de Periodistas Deportivos' official site (in Spanish)
• Olimpia special mention at Konex Awards (in Spanish)