2024-12-16 11:45:00
Gymnast Darja Varfolomeev, competing for Germany, received the title “Athlete of the Year”. The prestigious award was presented on Sunday 15 December in Baden-Baden. The athlete of the year was the rower Oliver Zeidler. In the team competition, the German women’s 3×3 basketball team won the award, taking the title of “Team of the Year”. All athletes received this prestigious award for their special sporting achievements: they brought Olympic gold to Germany at the Paris Olympic Games.
Daria Varfolomeev’s success convinced the members of the German Sports Journalism Association: the majority voted for her candidacy. Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany, the winner of the women’s shot put final at the Paris Olympics, was in second place by a small margin. In third place is Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl. All of them brought Olympic gold to Germany.
All athletes of the year: Daria Varfolomeev, Oliver Zeidler and the German women’s 3×3 basketball team Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa/picture Alliance
German gymnast with Russian roots
Varfolomeev was born in Barnaul. In Russia, the gymnast performed in various junior competitions, her highest result was sixth place at the championship of the Siberian Federal District. At the Olympic Games in Paris, the gymnast won the individual all-around. She moved to Germany in 2019 and changed her sporting citizenship. The Bartolomei have six gold, four silver and one bronze medals at the World Championships (2022, 2023), two gold and three bronze at the European Championships (2022, 2023, 2024). The German national team is coached by Belarusian Yulia Raskina, silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics in the individual all-around.
Seventeen-year-old Daria Varfolomeev became the first gymnast to receive the title “Athlete of the Year”. At the awards ceremony, which took place at the Kurhaus cultural center, one of the main attractions of Baden-Baden (federal state of Baden-Württemberg), Daria Varfolomeev spoke about the excitement and tension she experienced while preparing for the Olympics, and how strongly relieved she felt to have won. Her gold medal was Germany’s first Olympic gold in rhythmic gymnastics.
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