The Estonian
Athlete of the Year (
Estonian: Eesti Aasta Sportlane) is an annual award presented by the
Estonian Olympic Committee (Eesti Olümpiakomitee, EOK) to one male and one female sportsperson judged to have delivered the best performance over the course of the year. The winners of the award, which was first conceived in the 1930s and has been presented every year since 1955, are chosen by an aggregated vote from sporting journalists, national sporting federations, and the public at large.
Initially an accolade presented to one individual, the award was split into male and female categories beginning in 1967. In 2020 the two categories were merged due to the disruption caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic to the international and national sporting calendars.[2] The athlete with the most wins is cyclist
Erika Salumäe, who has won the award on nine occasions.
List of award winners
Cyclist
Erika Salumäe (pictured in 2009) won Athlete of the Year a record nine times between 1983 and 1996
Cyclist
Erika Salumäe has won Athlete of the Year more than any other athlete, male or female, with nine wins between 1983 and 1996. Skier
Kristina Šmigun-Vähi is the second-most decorated winner, having been chosen as Female Athlete of the Year on eight occasions. Of male athletes, the most successful are weightlifter
Jaan Talts, cyclist
Aavo Pikkuus, and skier
Andrus Veerpalu, each with five wins.[3] Pikkuus holds the record for the most consecutive awards won, achieving his five successively between 1974 and 1978.[4]
The youngest ever Athlete of the Year recipient is swimmer
Kaire Indrikson who won in 1977 at the age of sixteen, while Aavo Pikkuus is the youngest male winner on record, achieving the first of his five wins in 1974 at the age of twenty.[4] With a combined age of 39 years at the time of the 1977 awards, Indrikson and Pikkuus additionally constitute the youngest pair of winners from a single year.[5] Chess player
Paul Keres is the oldest person to be recognised as Athlete of the Year, winning his third award in 1962 at the age of 46. The oldest woman to win is fencer
Heidi Rohi, who in 2001 was awarded Athlete of the Year at the age of 35.[4] Keres also holds the record for the longest span of time over his awards, his third in 1962 coming 26 years after his first award in 1937. In awards presented solely after the Second World War, this distinction is held among male athletes by rower
Jüri Jaanson, who won the award three times over fifteen years (1990–2004), and among female athletes by Erika Salumäe and Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, who each won their awards over fourteen-year periods (1983–1996 and 1997–2010 respectively).[6]
Three members of the same family have each won Athlete of the Year:
Ulvi Voog-Indrikson in 1957, her daughter Kaire Indrikson in 1977, and her granddaughter
Triin Aljand in 2011 and 2012.[6]
By year
Single award (1955–1966; 2020)
Chess player
Paul Keres (pictured in 1969) was awarded Athlete of the Year twice, in 1959 and 1962, following his pre-war win in 1937
Weightlifter
Jaan Talts (pictured in 1972) was a five-time Athlete of the Year winner between 1967 and 1972Cyclist
Aavo Pikkuus (pictured in 1977) was named the men's Athlete of the Year five times consecutively from 1974 to 1978Rower
Jüri Jaanson (pictured in 2015) was voted male Athlete of the Year three times between 1990 and 2004Cross-country skier
Kristina Šmigun-Vähi (pictured in 2006) was named the women's Athlete of the Year eight times between 1997 and 2010Fencer
Julia Beljajeva (pictured in 2013) was selected as the female Athlete of the Year in 2013 and 2017
^Martinson, Jaan; Pahv, Peep; Press, Gunnar; Vaher, Andres (28 December 2000).
"Erki Nool: "Teadsin, et tiitel kuulub mulle!"". Õhtuleht (in Estonian).
Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.