Bolt and Williams voted AIPS best athletes 2015, FC Barcelona best team, Beijing best press facility

A panel of sports journalists from 91 countries voted in this year’s poll.

BEST MALE ATHLETE 2015

Regarded as the fastest person on earth, Usain Bolt is the reigning 100m and 200m world champion from Bejing, where he also won the 4x100m relay with his Jamaican teammates. Bolt is the reigning Olympic Champion in all three of these disciplines, and the first man to hold both the world records for the 100 meters and 200 meters. The Jamaican superstar and 11-time World champion has six Olympic medals to his name, and received a total of 804 votes in the AIPS Best Athlete poll, followed in close second by Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic with 774 votes, and Argentina and FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi with 380 votes.

1) USAIN BOLT 804 (27,74%)

2) NOVAK DJOKOVIC 774 (26,71%)

3) LIONEL MESSI 380 (13,11%)

BEST FEMALE ATHLETE 2015

World No. 1 Serena Williams, continued her dominance in 2015, where she won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon Grand Slams and recorded her 700th career victory. The US queen of tennis holds a total of 21 Grand Slams and was also voted Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2015, the first individual female athlete to receive the honor since athletics star Mary Decker in 1983. Williams received 664 votes, ahead of Ethiopian runner and 1500m world champion and world recorded holder Genzebe Dibaba (362) and Dutch sprinter and 200m world champion and record holder Dafne Schippers (283). This is the fourth year in a row that Serena Williams has been voted the AIPS Best Female Athlete.

1) SERENA WILLIAMS 664 (24,19%)

2) GENZEBE DIBABA 362 (13,19%)

3) DAFNE SCHIPPERS 283 (10,31%)

BEST TEAM 2015

Club football dominated in our Best Team category where European and World club champions FC Barcelona received the majority of votes. Barcelona were dominant in 2015 having won a triple of the Spanish League, the Spanish Cup and the Champions League, before going on the win the Club World Cup in December. FC Barcelona received a resounding 848 votes, followed by rugby world champions Team New Zealand with 506 votes, and NBA champions Golden State Warriors with 298 votes.

1) BARCELONA FC – FOOTBALL 848 (30,2%)

2) NEW ZEALAND MEN’S TEAM – RUGBY 506 (18,02%)

3) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS – BASKETBALL 298 (10,61%)

BEST PRESS FACILITY 2015

The overall winner of the Best Press Facility Award was the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, having received 366 votes and praise from the majority of our colleagues. The votes were close this year, with second place going to the press facilities of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada (305 votes) and third place to the 1st European Games in Baku (298 votes).

1) IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – BEIJING 366 (18,24%)

2) FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP– CANADA 305 (15,2%)

3) EUROPEAN GAMES – BAKU 298 (14,85%)

AIPS members from the following nations participated in the 2015 poll:

Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela