World discus silver medallist Daniel Stahl was crowned 2017 Swedish Sportsman of the Year at the Idrottsgala in Stockholm on Monday (15) evening.
Stahl missed out on the world discus title in London by two centimetres behind Andrius Gudzius from Lithuania. Stahl did finish the season at the top of the world lists in the event courtesy of a 71.29m throw on home soil in Sollentuna which eclipsed Ricky Bruch’s long-standing mark by three centimetres.
Stahl, who won 14 of his 21 competitions in 2017, became the first athlete to be named Swedish Sportsman of the Year since high jumper Stefan Holm in 2005.
It was a good night for Swedish athletics - and field eventers in particular - at the annual award ceremony. Armand Duplantis was named Newcomer of the Year for his exploits in 2017 which included a gold medal in the pole vault at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Grosseto, Italy.
Duplantis, who still has one season left in the junior ranks, also improved the world U20 pole vault record to 5.90m last year and he has started his season in excellent shape, improving his world indoor U20 record to 5.93m in Reno, Nevada on Friday.
Duplantis couldn’t attend the ceremony but his coach and mother Helena accepted the award on his behalf.