Muay Thai in poll for The World Games Athlete of the Year

Muay Thai fighter from Russia Svetlana Vinnikova has been nominated for the “Athlete of the Year 2018” by International World Games Association (IWGA). She is featured on the poll comprising a total of 25 candidates representing different sports.

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“IFMA is proud to announce that one of our champions has been nominated by The World Games to compete for the prestigious Athlete of the Year competition. Voting opens in January 2019,” International Federation of Muaythai Amateur reported.

“A record number of candidates, 25, will be competing for The World Games Athlete of the Year 2018 title. The online voting will start on January 1, but the candidates have been published today on the voting site.”

“The 25 candidates from 25 The World Games sports have been proposed by their international federations based on extraordinary achievements in 2018 or for several years. Everyone can vote once per day during January for their candidate online.”

In 2018 Svetlana Vinnikova won Gold at both, IFMA World and European Championships, competing in the women’s 63.5 kg weight class. She also took part at The World Games 2017 held in Wroclaw, Poland, which marked a debut of Muay Thai at the most prestigious competition immediately after the Olympic Games.

“After the first round, lasting until 15th January, the ten athletes or teams with the highest ranking will move into the final. These candidates will take the votes already cast into the final round. The winner will then be determined on 31st January at midnight UCT. The World Games honours the new Athlete of the Year with a trophy and a high-quality engraved wrist-watch from Tissot.”

“Last year, Sport Climbing World Record holder and The World Games 2017 champion, Reza Alipourshenazandifar (IRI) won the Athlete of the Year title with 90,790 votes just before Powerlifter legend Larysa Soloviova (UKR) with 90,036 votes.”

The voting for the IWGA Athlete of the Year 2018 is available on the official website of The World Games. A complete list of nominees can be found below.

IWGA Athlete of the Year 2018

Aikido: Renato Filippin (SUI)

Air Sports: Rudi Browning (AUS)

Archery: Sara Lopez (COL)

Handball: Women’s team Greece (GRE)

Boules Sports: Ke Leng (CAM)

Canoe: Men’s team Germany (GER)

DanceSport: Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova (RUS)

Fistball: Patrick Thomas (GER)

Floorball: Women’s team Burkina Faso (BUR)

Flying Disc: Dominique Fontenette (USA)

Gymnastics: Marina Chernova and Georgii Pataraia (RUS)

Ju-jitsu: Maximiliano Ulloa (USA)

Karate: Sandra Sanchez (ESP)

Kickboxing: Sananzade Orfan (UKR)

Korfball: Suzanne Struik (NED)

Lacrosse: Men’s team USA (USA)

Muaythai: Svetlana Vinnikova (RUS)

Orienteering: Tove Alexandersson (SWE)

Powerlifting: Jennifer Thompson (USA)

Roller Sports: Luca Lucaroni (ITA)

Sport Climbing: Janja Garnbret (SLO)

Squash: Nour El Tayeb and Ali Farag (EGY)

Sumo: Anna Poliakova (RUS)

Tug of War: Men’s U23 team Switzerland (SUI)

Underwater Sports: Petra Senanszky (HUN)