David Popovici had an incredible year: after winning the title of European and world champion at distances of 100 and 200 m freestyle, the Romanian swimmer took 9th place in the ranking of the best European athletes of 2022.

David Popovici, 9th place in the list of the best sportsmen of Europe in 2022

At the age of 18, Popovici scored 37 points in a poll conducted by the Polish news agency PAP through votes from other news agencies on the continent.

The title of the best European athlete of the year went to a Pole Iga Svyatekwhich occupies the first place in the WTA hierarchy.

In the 65th edition of the traditional poll, Sviatek dominated with a total of 118 points, winning eight titles this year, two Grand Slams, Roland Garros and the US Open, four “WTA 1000” titles in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome, as well as two “WTA 500s”, in Stuttgart and San Diego.

The Swedish athlete was in second place in the continental ranking Armand Duplantis, having scored 106 points. The Scandinavian woman was also named the best athlete of the year according to World Athletics. Duplantis, 23, set a new world record in the pole vault at the World Championships in Eugene in July – 6.21 meters. This year, he won 18 of the 19 events he entered, clearing the 6-meter barrier 23 times.

The Dutch Formula 1 world champion completed the podium Max Westappenhaving scored 82 points, writes Agerpres.

Know:

• This year, David Popovici won gold in the 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle at both the European Senior Championships and the World Senior Championships in the Olympic pool.

• David Popovich won 14 medals at the five major events he competed in in 2022. 11 of them are gold.

• Only two Romanian athletes, gymnast Nadia Comaneci (1976) and athlete Gabriela Szabo (1999), have won PAP investigations over time. Last year, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic won the award.

• 20 press agencies participated in the 2022 survey: AGERPRES (Romania), ANP (Netherlands), APA (Austria), ANA (Greece), BELGA (Belgium), BTA (Bulgaria), CTK (Czech Republic), DPA (Germany) . ), EFE (Spain), HINA (Croatia), LETA (Latvia), LUSA (Portugal), MTI (Hungary), SID (Germany), SITA (Slovakia), STA (Slovenia), Tanjug (Serbia), TASR (Slovakia ) ), Ukrinform (Ukraine) and PAP (Poland).

The best athletes of Europe in 2022

1. Iga Sviatek (Poland/tennis) 118 points

2. Armand Duplantis (Sweden/Athletics) 106

3. Max Westappen (Netherlands/Formula 1) 82

4. Carlos Alcázar (Spain/tennis) 76

5. Rafael Nadal (Spain/tennis) 66

6. Kylian Mbappe (France/football) 55

7. Johannes Tinges Bø (Norway/biathlon) 50

8. Therese Johaug (Norway/skiing) 42

9. Davyd Popovichi (Romania/swimming) 37

10. Jonas Wingegaard (Denmark/Cycling) 33

11. Marte Olsbu Roiseland (Norway/biathlon) 29

12. Remko Evenepol (Belgium/cycling) 28

13. Annemick van Vleuten (Netherlands/Cycling) 27

14. Nikola Jokic (Serbia/basketball) 26

15. Novak Djokovic (Serbia/tennis) 23

15. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway/athletics) 23

17. Karim Benzema (France/football) 19

18. Harry Lavreysen (Netherlands/Cycling) 16

19. Yannis Antetokounmpo (Greece/basketball) 15

19. Gina Lukenkemper (Germany/athletics) 15

19. Marco Odermatt (Switzerland/mountain skiing) 15

22. Miltiadis Tendoglu (Greece/athletics) 13

23. Niklas Kaul (Germany/athletics) 10

23. Kristof Milak (Hungary/Swimming) 10

23. Anders Mol and Christian Serum (Norway/beach volleyball) 10 etc.