AIPS Sport Media Award winners with the AIPS Executive Committee Members and Awards jurors (Photo by Carlo Pozzoni/AIPS Media)
SANTA SUSANNA, April 29, 2024 – The small town of Santa Susanna, in Barcelona’s coast, is surrounded by crops, protected by the mountains and bathed by the Mediterranean Sea. As it’s long-serving mayor, Joan Campollier, describes, ‘it’s the closest thing to an oasis’. Santa Susanna is also a place that suggests that we should back to the basics, the principles that have guided us for ages, a beautiful parable when it comes to journalism. The fitness capital was the place chosen for the AIPS Centenary Congress and the ceremony of the AIPS Sport Media Awards’ sixth edition.
The gala that took place in the Pavilion of Santa Susanna highlighted exactly those principles and those values. The best of world’s sports journalism was present, with 33 winners on stage: 24 from the eight main senior categories, 3 young reporters, 5 investigative reporters and one awardee for her bright career in journalism.
As host Marc Maury explained at the beginning, the Awards received 1887 submissions from 140 countries, a record in terms of participation. “A clear indication of the importance, prestige and relevance of these Awards, that not only encourages the privilege of competing among the world’s best, but also raises the bar that will inspire thousands of other journalists across the world in difficult times,” highlighted AIPS president Gianni Merlo.
The winners, that received a trophy and will receive either 8,000 US Dollars (1st place), 3,000 (2nd place) or 2,000 (3rd place), were the following:
AUDIO
1) Cristian Arcos (Chile), Colo Colo 73: 50 Years of an Unforgettable Team – Radio ADN
2) Greg Kelly / Peter Brown (Canada), Flopsweat: Why We Choke When It Matters Most – CBC Radio
3) Shima Oliaee (USA), Pink Card – Shirazad Productions for ESPN
PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO
1) Adam Pretty (Australia), World Swimming Championships 2023 – Getty Images
2) Roman Vondrouš (Czech Republic), Canoe Slalom World Cup – Czech News Agency
3) Ryan Pierse (Australia), Teahupo’o – The End of the Road – Getty Images
PHOTOGRAPHY SPORT ACTION
1) Luca Bettini (Italy), Bloody mask – Sprint Cycling Agency
2) Sam Barnes (UK), Falling Femke – Sportsfile
3) Erçin Ertürk (Turkey), Look and See – Anadolu Agency
VIDEO ATHLETE PROFILE
1) Anthony Audureau, Thomas Larabi (France), Until the last round -Trois Heures moins le Quart
2) Joseph Battaglia (USA), Bob Beamon: The Legacy Beyond The Leap – FloSports
3) William Moss (USA), Untitled: The Noah Lyles Project – NBC Sports
VIDEO DOCUMENTARY
1) Phyllis Ellis (Canada), Category: Woman – Proximity Films
2) Alison Mayer (Brazil), The incredible Galicia street soccer cup – TV Globo
3) Louis Myles / Ahmed Twaij (UK), Mighty Penguins – Meadow Lark
VIDEO SHORT FEATURE
1) Gustavo Rotstein (Brazil), Sister Isabela: A football act – TV Globo
2) Ben Unger (Germany), The first and last women’s international match – WDR
3) Al Bello (USA), The Savannah Bananas – Getty Images
WRITING BEST COLOUR PIECE
1) Christof Gertsch (Switzerland), The Merman – Das Magazin
2) David Gardner (USA), Gunshots shattered her hoop dreams. Now she wants them back. – Washington Post
3) Quentin Moynet (France), Welcome to the jungle – L’Equipe
WRITING BEST COLUMN
1) Cristian Grosso (Argentina), Messi, the hero without resentment – Diario La Nación
2) Pablo Juanarena (Spain), Text for a football match ticket – Marca
3) Orfeo Suárez (Spain), The Achilles heel is in the balls – El Mundo
The Young Reporters categories, that offer an AIPS scholarship at a top international event, also had three winners:
YOUNG REPORTERS BROADCASTING
Stanimira Atanasova (Bulgaria), The other champions: «A letter to you» – bTV Media Group
YOUNG REPORTERS PHOTOGRAPHY
Akram Abdullah (Yemen), Passion & spirit in its finest form – Facebook
YOUNG REPORTERS WRITING
Jack Bantock (UK), For nearly 50 years, only Black men caddied The Masters. One day, they all but vanished. – CNN
SPECIAL CATEGORY – Investigative Reporting, a category that is not open to submissions, saw three senior winners, and, for the first time, two young reporters that also received this presidential distinction from Gianni Merlo and Olympic legend Edwin Moses.
David Mark (Australia) was awarded for his three-year-old investigation on the serial paedophile that haunted his victims in the sporting world for years.
Markus Harm (Germany) made a remarkable investigation on the boxing scandal that rocked the Olympic world.
Quentin Moynet (France) showed the underground world of tennis for those that hardly make a living while playing in the circuit.
Two Young Reporters also were called on stage for the first time of this Special category.
Linda Ngari (Kenya) for discovering a Ponzi scheme from a UK registered company that swindled hundreds of people in her country.
Marah Yousef, Muaz Zreiqi (Jordan) showed the dangerous world of cycling in their country and truly deserved this recognition.
A LIFE IN SPORT
Nothing is ever the same once you know the story of Sara Estévez, the 98-year-old trailblazer from Bilbao that became not just a pioneer in women’s sports journalism, but also had to fight against prejudices and break barriers. For more than twenty years, she was only known as Marathon, and her radio chronicles, with all the insight of Athletic Bilbao’s information, were eagerly awaited. Her reports, though, were read by a man. A male voice identified Marathon, until it became known that Marathon was, indeed, Sara. She is now 98 years old and still follows Athletic Bilbao’s results. She was the first woman to date to receive the A Life in Sport special recognition, and received a standing ovation.
SPECIAL COMMENDATIONS Thirty nine special mentions were also announced. As it happened in the previous years, they are aligned with the core values of AIPS, advocating for peace, diversity, gender equality, as well as a bridge for the next generation and modern reporting.
