Leon Marchand is the winner of the 67th edition of the Polish Press Agency poll for the ten best athletes in Europe in 2024 among press agencies on the Old Continent. The 22-year-old French swimmer won gold medals in the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200 medley and 400 medley at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. He also earned a bronze medal in the 4×100 medley relay.
Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar finished second in the poll, while Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis took third. Twenty-one European press agencies took part in the poll.
In 2024, 26-year-old Pogacar became the third cyclist in history, after Eddy Merckxs and Stefan Roche, to win the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and the world championship in one year.
Duplantis, a year younger than Pogacar, showed the whole world at the Paris 2024 Games why he is the undisputed king of the pole vault. He set three world records in 2024, the latest – a height of 6.26 m – was set in Chorzów (Poland) during a Diamond League competition – Kamila Skolimowska Memorial.
Fifty-three athletes (19 women and 34 men) from 24 disciplines, coming from 23 countries, participated in the 67th poll. Most – 7 – come from Spain, five from the the Netherlands, four from France, Serbia and Italy, and three each from Belgium and Slovenia.
The sport with the most representives was athletics – 9, followed by football – 6. Cycling and swimming had 4 each, while biathlon, boxing and basketball had three each.
Marchand is the third French athlete to win the poll. The 1960 Rome Olympic vice-champion in the 1500 meters, Michel Jazy, won in 1965, while the alpine athlete Jean-Claude Killy won twice in 1967 and 1968.
The 21 agencies that took part are: AFP (France), AGERPRES (Romania), ANADOLU AJANSI (Turkey), ANP (Netherlands), APA (Austria), BTA (Bulgaria), CTK (Czech Republic), DPA (Germany), EFE (Spain), HINA (Croatia), KEYSTONE-SDA (Switzerland), LETA (Latvia), LUSA (Portugal), MTI (Hungary), SID (Germany), SITA (Slovakia), STA (Slovenia), TANJUG (Serbia), TASR (Slovakia), UKRINFORM (Ukraine) and PAP S.A.(Poland) took part in the 67th poll.
The top 1-25 athletes according to Polish Press Agency:
1. Leon Marchand (France) – swimming 155 points
2. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – cycling 148
3. Armand Duplantis (Sweden) – athletics 142
4. Jannik Sinner (Italy) – tennis 113,5
5. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) – Formula 1 – 71
6. Rodri (Spain) – football – 53
7. Marco Odermatt (Switzerland) – alpine skiing – 49
8. Yaroslava Makhutchikh (Ukraine) – athletics – 43
9. Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) – cycling – 36
10. Nicola Jokic (Serbia) – basketball – 35
11. Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) – athletics – 27
12. Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) – tennis – 26
13. Harrie Levreysen (Netharlands) – cycling – 25
14. Femke Bol (Netherlands) – athletics – 21
15. Johannes Thingnes Boe (Norway) – biathlon – 19
16. Oleksander Usyk (Ukraine) – boxing – 14
Sarah Sjoestroem (Sweden) – swimming – 14
18. Novak Djokovic (Serbia) – tennis – 12
19. Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium) – athletics – 11
Carlos Alcazar (Spain) – tennis – 11
21. Paola Egonu (Italy) – volleyball – 10
22. Lamine Yamal (Spain) – football) – 9
23. Jude Bellingham (Great Britain) – 7
Iga Świątek (Poland) – tennis – 7
Josef Dostal (Czech Republic) – canoe – 7
Nicolo Martinenghi (Italy) – swimming – 7
Previous winners
1958 Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak (Poland/athletics)
1959 Wassiliy Kuzniecov (USSR/athletics)
1960 Yuriy Vlasov (USSR/weightlifting)
1961 Valery Brumel (USSR/athletics)
1962 Valery Brumel
1963 Valery Brumel
1964 Lidia Skoblikova (USSR/speed skating)
1965 Michael Jazy (France/athletics)
1966 Irena Szewińska (Poland/athletics)
1967 Jean-Claude Killy (France. alpine skiing)
1968 Jean-Claude Killy
1969 Eddy Merckx (Belgium/cycling)
1970 Eddy Merckx
1971 Juha Vaeaetaeinen (Finland/athletics)
1972 Lasse Viren (Finland/athletics)
1973 Kornelia Ender (GDR/swimming)
1974 Irena Szewińska (Poland/athletics)
1975 Kornelia Ender
1976 Nadia Comaneci (Romania/artistic gymnastics)
1977 Rosemarie Ackermann (GDR/athletics)
1978 Vladimir Jashchenko (USSR/athletics)
1979 Sebastian Coe (Great Britain/athletics)
1980 Vladimir Salnikov (USSR/swimming)
1981 Sebastian Coe
1982 Daley Thompson (Great Britain/athletics)
1983 Jarmila Kratochvilova (Czechoslovakia/athletics)
1984 Michael Gross (BRD/swimming)
1985 Siergiey Bubka (USSR/athletics)
1986 Heike Drechsler (GDR/athletics)
1987 Stephen Roche (Ireland/cycling)
1988 Steffi Graf (BRD/tennis)
1989 Steffi Graf
1990 Stefan Edberg (Sweden/tennis)
1991 Katrin Krabbe (Germany/athletics)
1992 Nigel Mansell (Great Britain/Formula 1)
1993 Linford Christie (Great Britain/athletics)
1994 Johan Olav Koss (Norway/speed skating)
1995 Jonathan Edwards (Great Britain/athletics)
1996 Svetlana Mastierkova (Russia/athletics)
1997 Martina Hingis (Switzerland/tennis)
1998 Mika Haekkinen (Finland/Formula 1)
1999 Gabriela Szabo (Romania/athletics)
2000 Inge de Bruijn (Netherland/swimming)
2001 Michael Schumacher (Germany/Formula 1)
2002 Michael Schumacher
2003 Michael Schumacher
2004 Roger Federer (Switzerland/tennis)
2005 Roger Federer and Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia/athletics)
2006 Roger Federer
2007 Roger Federer
2008 Rafael Nadal (Spain/tennis)
2009 Roger Federer
2010 Rafael Nadal
2011 Novak Djokovic (Serbia/tennis)
2012 Sebastian Vettel (Germany/Formula 1)
2013 Sebastian Vettel
2014 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain/Formula 1)
2015 Novak Djokovic (Serbia/tennis)
2016 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/football)
2017 Cristiano Ronaldo
2018 Novak Djokovic
2019 Lewis Hamilton
2020 Robert Lewandowski (Poland/football)
2021 Novak Djokovic (Serbia/tennis)
2022 Iga Świątek (Poland/tennis)
2023 Novak Djokovic
2024 Leon Marchand (France)
Credit: Polish Sports Writers Association
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