The phenomenal year for Luka Modrić continues with his latest award by the AIPS.
Luka Modrić, the best athlete in Croatia and the best footballer in the world in 2018, has added yet another admirable accolade to his collection for 2018 – Modrić has been named the world’s best athlete in the selection of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) on Thursday, reports Gol.hr on January 3, 2019.
An outstanding 359 journalists from 87 countries participated in the survey, who gave Modrić the win with 419 points, ahead of two top tennis players – Novak Đoković (337 points) and Roger Federer (290 points).
The best female athlete in the world was awarded to American gymnast Simone Biles, who won six medals at the World Championships in Doha, four of which were gold. Biles won with 427 points, while the closest competitors were Czech snowboarder Ester Ledeck (335 votes), who was the first in history to win two Olympic gold medals at the same Winter Olympics in snowboarding and alpine skiing, and Romania’s best tennis player Simona Halep (331 votes).
The best team in the world was awarded to champions of the World Cup – France, and the best press center was assigned to the World Cup in Russia this summer.
Best male athletes
LUKA MODRIĆ (Croatia, football) 419 (13,15 %)
Novak Đoković (Serbia, tennis) 337 (10,58 %)
Roger Federer (Switzerland, tennis) 290 (9,1 %)
Kylian Mbappe (France, football) 282 (8,85 %)
Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, F1) 266 (8,35 %)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, football) 234 (7,34 %)
Kamil Stoch (Poland, ski jump) 202 (6,34 %)
Marcel Hirscher (Austria, skiing) 159 (4,99 %)
LeBron James (USA, basketball) 142 (4,46 %)
Martin Fourcade (France, biathlon) 119 (3,7 %)
Best female athletes
Simone Biles (USA, gymastics) 427 (13,4 %)
Ester Ledecka (Czech Republic, snowboarding and skiing) 335 (10,51 %)
Simona Halep (Romania, tennis) 331 (10,39 %)
Ada Hegerberg (Norway, football) 290 (9,1 %)
Serena Williams (USA, tennis) 260 (8,16 %)
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA, skiing) 255 (8 %)
Katie Ledecky (USA, swimming) 252 (7,91 %)
Marit Bjorgen (Norway, cross-country skiing) 207 (6,5 %)
Ekaterina Stefanidi (Greece, athletics) 203 (6,37 %)
Amandiene Leynaud (France, handball) 179 (5,62 %)
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