Three of athletics' best athletes France's Renaud Lavillenie, Germany's Robert Harting and Croatia's Sandra Perkovic were voted as Sports Persons of the year for 2014 in their respective countries following their gold medals in Zurich.
Lavillenie was crowned Champion of Champions by L'Equipe newspaper in a contest that rewards the best sportsman in the world in 2014 after his 6.16m pole vault world record in Donetsk. He also won best French athlete as well as the internet fan vote, here he is with all three trophies.
This is the third time discus champion Harting wins the German sportsman of the year, as he was joined by skier Maria Höfl-Riesch and Joachim Löw who coached the national football team to World Cup triumph.
Wahl zum Sportler des Jahres ein 'Armutszeugnis? @Maria mit Klartext wg. @DerHarting @Maria https://t.co/Ak61dBTYto pic.twitter.com/oZRdhrLIe4
— Eurosport.de (@EurosportCom_DE) December 22, 2014
Sandra Perkovic was voted as the sportswomen of the year by the Croatian National Olympic Committee after her dominant performance in Zurich. At the age of 24 this was already her third consecutive European title and it seems that the sky is truly the limit for this pure discus talent.
@PerkovicSandra & Ivica Kostelić Named 2014 Sportspeople of the Year http://t.co/s24ElZ30Ne
— CroatiaWeek (@CroatiaWeek) December 19, 2014