Erling Braut Haaland is emerging as the favorite to take home multiple awards at the Trondheim Sports Gala. Here is a complete list of the nominees.
The jury completed its work in the Christmas holidays and is ready with its nominations in the various categories. The winners will be announced at Trondheim Spektrum on Saturday, January 6th.
It could be another memorable evening for Erling Braut Haaland. The Jæren native was the standout player when Manchester City won virtually everything that can be won last season. Triumphant in the FA Cup and the Premier League was supplemented by a highly anticipated Champions League victory.
Haaland scored goals on demand on the road to winning three trophies.
At the Sports Gala, the football star is naturally nominated for both the Male Athlete of the Year and the Sports Person of the Year awards. The latter is awarded based on public votes.
Haaland is also a strong contender for the Athletes’ Award. There are no pre-nominations for this category.
Ingebrigtsen challenges
In the jury’s rationale for Haaland’s nominations, they stated:
“Had an extraordinary season at Manchester City. Haaland and City won the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League, and came out on top in the FA Cup. The Jæren native also set a new goalscoring record in the Premier League, with 36 goals. He was named the striker of the year at the Ballon d’Or and also the player of the year in English football and in Europe. BBC named him the world’s athlete of the year.”
One of the toughest challengers is likely to be Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The track and field star from Sandnes is nominated for the same awards as Haaland.
Topsport Director Tore Øvrebø has led the jury responsible for the nominations. He has been accompanied by Suzann Pettersen, Hanne Haugland, Marit Bjørgen, Ola By Rise, Kjetil André Aamodt, and Knut Holmann.
He points out that it is difficult to compare achievements in different sports.
“The jurying has been done conscientiously, and the achievements have been carefully evaluated according to the criteria that apply. Distinguishing athletes from each other is almost an impossible task in some of the classes,” Øvrebø said.
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