A surprise twist – “Raivo” broke even before the Sports Gala

Anssi Karjalainen

This year, the debate exceptionally started even before the gala evening, writes Anssi Karjalainen.

Today at 22:33

Lauri Markkanen finally reached the top. Jenni Gästgivar

There was no extrajudicial killing. There is exceptionally little social media chatter. On Friday, at the coffee tables, it can be said that it went well.

Lauri Markkanen is Sportsman of the Year fully deserved. Even last year, Markkanen’s jump was not enough to reach the top. Star selection, incredible scoring, dragging the Utah Jazz to unexpected success and finally being recognized as the most developed NBA player of the year guaranteed Markkanen the number one position with a shocking superiority at the end of 2023.

Markkanen won a whopping 126 first places in the Athlete of the Year voting. The second runner-up, Wilma Murto, got 48 and Kalle Rovanperä 29. The difference of a little over a hundred points between Markkanen and Murto can be explained by the fact that Markkanen was still undervalued in some papers.

The athletes of team sports have traditionally not celebrated at the last award ceremony of the Sports Gala. It required unprecedented feats from Markkas as well.

The athlete of the year debate has already become a tradition in Finland. This year, exceptionally, it started even before the gala evening. Ida Hulkko, who was awarded swimmer of the year, announced that the award would not have belonged to her.

And it is true, as the species has admitted. Veera Kivirinna or Matti Mattsson should have wedged ahead.

Instead, less attention was paid to wrestling. Arvi Savolainen was chosen as the best molskikörmy of 2023. Savolainen’s year was by no means bad: the GP race win in Madrid and the third place in the Ranking series competition in Budapest give some kind of basis for the selection.

However, Savolainen experienced a surprise defeat already in the third round of the World Championships, the main event of the season. The top five were offered a place at the Paris Olympics – so that didn’t happen either.

– The guys were such that all three should have won. Perhaps it was not expected that the best of the series would be here, but I was hoping for a better result, Savolainen expressed his disappointment To Yle.

Considering the injuries, Savolainen’s year was OK. He was looking for significantly tougher results.

At the same time, Tino Ojala and Jonni Sarkkinen won the European Greco-Roman wrestling championships in the under-23 category. So now the prize medalists were behind Savolainen. It seems downright rare. EC gold is EC gold, even if it was wrestled in an age group competition.

What does it matter? Quite a lot.

Since the prize in question is to be distributed, it should be taken seriously. Although I am not a member of the Sports Journalists’ Association, I understand very well the difficulty of my colleagues there, when you have to choose the best of the year in 82 different sports. The task is not easy, but help is certainly available from the sports associations.

The award in question is a great way to give recognition also to the athletes of those sports that don’t shine in public every week or even every month.

In addition, many of the athletes on the list have to live the everyday life of a top athlete almost close to the poverty line. There is even more of a shortage of money if your own sport does not happen to enjoy state support euros like the Olympic sports.

It can be frustrating when an athlete who has achieved the best results of his life is unable to market himself to new partners as the best representative of his sport, even if he has the skills to do so.

That’s why the sneer from the swimmers to the sports journalists is understandable.