David Popovici, bypassed in the choice of the best European athletes of the year. What a place our champion occupied

David Popovici, bypassed in the choice of the best European athletes of the year. What a place our champion occupied

23 media agencies on the continent carried out a survey to determine the European athlete of the year 2025. Although he achieved extraordinary performances, winning the world titles in 100 and 200 meters freestyle, David Popovici was bypassed at the time of voting.

Our swimmer received only 13 points, with which he ranked 18th, together with rally driver Sebastien Ogier (France), golfer Rory Mclroy (Ireland) and footballer Vitinha (Portugal). At first sight, David’s position seems unfair, but if we look at who took his face, things are no longer quite like that.

In the 68th edition of the survey organized by the Polish News Agency (PAP), the winner was the multiple Swedish world record holder Armand Duplantis, double Olympic pole vault champion, who accumulated 184 points. He was followed by the Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, champion this year at Roland Garros and the US Open, and the Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar, who won the Tour de France for the fourth time, writes Agerpres. Dembele, winner of the Champions League with PSG, Formula 1 champion Lando Norris or tennis players Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek also came out before the Romanian.

In history, Romania has had two laureates of the investigation: the gymnast Nadia Comăneci (1976) and the athlete Gabriela Szabo (1999).

Ranking of the best European athletes of 2025

1. Armand Duplantis (Sweden/athletics) 184 points

2. Carlos Alcaraz (Spain/tennis) 143 points

3. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia/cycling) 134 points

4. Femke Bol (Netherlands/athletics) 76 points

5. Ousmane Dembele (France/football) 70 points

6. Lando Norris (Great Britain/F1) 68 points

7. Jannik Sinner (Italy/tennis) 57 points

8. Arina Sabalenka (Belarus/tennis) 56 points

9. Marco Odermatt (Switzerland/alpine skiing) 45 points

10. Johannes Klaebo (Norway/Nordic skiing) 29 points

11. Leon Marchand (France/swimming) 27 points

12. Marc Marquez (Spain/MotoGP) 25 points

13. Iga Swiatek (Poland/tennis) 19 points

14. Johannes Thingnes Boe (Norway/biathlon), Oleksandr Usik (Ukraine/boxing) 16 points

16. Aleksandr Ovecikin (Russia/ice hockey), Maria Perez (Spain/athletics) 14 points

18. Sebastien Ogier (France/rallying), Rory Mclroy (Ireland/golf), Vitinha (Portugal/football), David Popovici (Romania/swimming) 13 points

Adrian Stoica

Adrian Stoica

Adrian is the founder and the visionary behind Cluj Napoca, a media platform committed to capturing and sharing the vibrant stories of Cluj-Napoca and Romania with an international audience. A graduate in international journalism from the University of Bucharest and holder of a Master’s in Cultural Studies from Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Adrian has a robust educational background that equips him to understand and analyze the complexities of his native region's culture and history.