Havana, November 30 (PL) - The 59th edition of the traditional Prensa Latina Sports Poll opens its curtain today, to choose the best athletes and teams of Latin America and the Caribbean in the 2023 season.
Starting this Thursday, all the world's media will be able to participate in the voting and cast their votes in the three categories: Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete and Best Team.
The deadline for submitting ballots will be open until December 21, and one day later, the results will be announced at a press conference at the headquarters of the Prensa Latina news agency.
The media, in all its variants -radio, television, written press, agencies, digital portals-, will be able to send their selections to the mail deportes@prensa-latina.cu, from where the general voting will be compiled.
All the media included in the Prensa Latina Sports Poll will vote on equal terms and will be able to choose any athlete from Latin America and the Caribbean (even if he/she does not appear in the list with proposals that we offer at the end of the article).
It is worth remembering that these votes of the Latin American agency were born in 1964, and the first winner was the Cuban sprinter Enrique Figuerola.
Among the men, the top winner of titles is the mythical Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt (6), followed by the Cuban prince of heights Javier Sotomayor (5), while among women the legendary Colombian jumper Caterine Ibargüen (5) is the owner of the most titles.
If we make a list of the most illustrious winners we could mention, among many others, besides Bolt, Sotomayor and Ibargüen, Diego Armando Maradona, Lionel Messi, Teófilo Stevenson, Alberto Juantorena, Ayrton Senna, Ana Fidelia Quirot, Mireya Luis, Iván Pedroso, Sammy Sosa, Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho Gaucho, Félix Sánchez or Yulimar Rojas.
Below, we offer a sort of proposals put together by Prensa Latina's Sports editorial staff, with several of the most dazzling athletes in the 2023 campaign:
Athletics:
-Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela): World Champion in Budapest and holder of the Diamond League, in the triple jump.
-Shericka Jackson (Jamaica): World champion in the 200 meters in Budapest. Champion in the 100 and 200 meters in the Diamond League.
-Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic): World champion in the 400 meters in Budapest. Diamond League titleholder in the same specialty. Titular in the Pan American Games of Santiago, in 200 meters and mixed 4×400 relay.
Danielle Williams (Jamaica): World champion in the 100-meter hurdles in Budapest.
-Antonio Watson (Jamaica): World champion in the 400 meters in Budapest.
Baseball:
-Ronald Acuña (Venezuela): Most Valuable Player of the National League of the Major Leagues of the United States. Implanted an unprecedented mark for these lides, after becoming the first batter of all time to connect more than 40 homers (41) and steal more than 70 bases (73).
Artistic gymnastics:
-Rebeca Andrade (Brazil): World champion on vault horse in Antwerp, in addition to three silver medals and one bronze medal at that orb event. Two-time starter at the Pan American Games in Santiago 2023.
Wrestling:
-Luis Orta (Cuba): World champion in Belgrade. Monarch at the Pan American Games of Santiago 2023. Titleholder at the Central Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023.
-Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba): World Champion in Belgrade.
Canoeing
-Yarisleidis Cirilo (Cuba): World Champion in Duisburg, Germany. Monarch at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023.
Rowing:
-Kenia Lechuga (Mexico): World runner-up in Belgrade 2023.
Weightlifting:
-Natalia Llamosa (Colombia): World champion in Riyadh. Champion at the Central Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023.
-Angie Palacios (Ecuador): Champion at the Pan American Games in Santiago 2023. Silver at the World Cup in Riyadh.
-Keydomar Vallenilla (Venezuela): Champion at the Pan American Games of Santiago 2023. Bronze at the World Cup in Riyadh.
Water sports:
-Omar Olvera (Mexico): Three-time champion in diving at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. Two-time silver medalist at the Fukuoka World Cup.
Taekwondo:
-Carlos Sansores (Mexico): Pan American champion at Santiago 2023. Runner-up at the Baku World Championship.
Collective team proposals:
-Soccer-Fluminense (Brazil): Champion of the Copa Libertadores de America for the first time in history.
-Soccer-Mexico: Gold Cup champion.
