CubaPLUS Magazine

Cuban wrestler Mijaín López, five-time Olympic and world champion, won the award for best athlete in America in 2024, awarded by the continental section of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS).

López, who won his fifth consecutive crown in the Greco-Roman wrestling style during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, obtained seven votes to beat Ecuadorian race walker Daniel Pintado (two votes) by a wide margin.

Since then, the Cuban has received tributes and awards in different parts of the world, including being chosen as the best in the men's category and protagonist of the sporting event of the year in Cuba, in addition to the award for best male athlete in Latin America in 2024, awarded by the Prensa Latina news agency.

American gymnast Simone Biles, winner of four medals at the French Olympics, was named the best female athlete in the Americas in 2024, according to AIPS. Guatemalan shooter Adriana Ruano and sprinter Julien Alfred, from Saint Lucia, also received votes in the women's category.

Affiliates from 11 nations on the continent participated in the vote to choose the most outstanding athletes in each gender, as well as in the categories of best team and press center. In these last two categories, the Argentine men's soccer team and the team in charge of facilitating the work of the press in covering the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia received the most support.

(taken from Prensa Latina)