Canoeist Fernando Pimenta and athlete Oriol Dongmo, Portuguese record holder in the shot put, have been chosen as 2023 Athletes of the Year by the CNID – Association of Sports Journalists, the organization announced this Sunday.
Fernando Pimenta, 34, had another year full of achievements, highlighted by three medals won at the World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, one from each event: gold in the 1000m, silver in the 15k meters and silver. and bronze at the level of 1,500 crowns.
The Benfica canoeist replaces Pedro Pablo Pichardo, Portugal’s triple jump record holder, in the list of winners of the award, which is being held for the fourth time, while 33-year-old Oriol Dongmo repeats the award given to him last year.
The Sporting thrower finished fourth at the World Championships in Budapest, the best result of any Portuguese athlete in the competition, and also won a gold medal at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Cameroonian Oriole Dongmo, who has already reached the qualifying mark for the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be out of action for several months due to a leg injury sustained during training for which she had to undergo surgery.
The election results are determined by the votes of a jury consisting of journalists, managers and influential sports figures, based on a list of five male and five female names selected by the CNID management depending on the results obtained during the year.