BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year

BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year
BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year
Awarded for	Best Balkan Athlete
Country	The Balkans: ; Albania ; Bosnia and Herzegovina ; Bulgaria ; Croatia ; FR Yugoslavia (formerly) ; Greece ; Kosovo ; Montenegro ; North Macedonia ; Romania ; Serbia ; Serbia/Montenegro (formerly) ; Slovenia ; Turkey ; Yugoslavia (formerly)
Presented by	Bulgarian News Agency (BTA)
First award	1973
Most awards	Novak Djokovic (8×)
Website	bta.bg/en/news/sport

The BTA Best Balkan Athlete of the Year, Balkan Athlete of the Year, or simply Athlete of the Balkans (Bulgarian: БТА спортист на Балканите, romanized: BTA sportist na Balkanite) is an annual sports athlete of the year award. The winner of each year's award is announced by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). The award is given to the year's top performing individual athlete that has citizenship from one of the nations of the Balkans region, which includes the twelve nations of: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey, and previously included the former nations of Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro. The award winners are chosen by the votes of a panel of sports journalists and editors from the following ten Balkan nation's news media outlets: the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), which also announces each year's winners, the Romanian AGERPRES, the Greek Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), the Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA), the Croatian News Agency (HINA), the Bosnia and Herzegovina Federal News Agency (FENA), the North Macedonia Media Information Agency (MIA), the Montenegrin News Agency (MINA), and the Serbian Tanjug.

All athletes that have citizenship from a country that is a part of the Balkans region, both men's and women's, and that compete in all age categories and all levels of competition, are eligible for the award. Balkan athletes from all sports competitions, both individual sports and team sports, are eligible for the award. Balkan athletes are also eligible for the award regardless of what country in the world that they compete in, as they do not have to compete in a Balkans nation to be eligible to win the award.

The first Balkan Athlete of the Year award was given for the year 1973.^[1] It was won by Svetla Zlateva, a Bulgarian sprinter and middle-distance runner. The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, has won the most awards, having won the award a total of eight times (2011–2015, 2019, 2021, 2023).^[2]

Balkan Athlete of the Year award winners (1973–present)

Year	Edition	Athlete	Sport	Awards, honors, and achievements in Year Won	Ref.
1973	1st Poll	Svetla Zlateva	athletics	1973 Bulgarian Athletics Championships 400 metres indoor: Gold 1973 Bulgarian Athletics Championships 800 metres outdoor: Gold 1973 Bulgarian Athletics Championships 1500 metres outdoor: Gold 1973 Women's 800 metres World Record
1974	2nd Poll	Mate Parlov	boxing	1974 World Boxing Championship Light Heavyweight Division: Gold 1974 Balkans Boxing Championship Light Heavyweight Division: Gold 1974 Yugoslavia Boxing Championship Light Heavyweight Division: Gold 1974 DSL Sport's Best Athlete of Yugoslavia 1974 Sportske novosti's Yugoslav Sportsman of the Year
1975	3rd Poll	Nadia Comăneci	artistic gymnastics	1975 Champions All Team: Gold 1975 Champions All All Around: Gold 1975 Pre-Olympics All Around: Gold 1975 Pre-Olympics Vault: Silver 1975 Pre-Olympics Uneven Bars: Gold 1975 Pre-Olympics Balance Beam: Bronze 1975 Pre-Olympics Floor Exercise: Silver 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships All-Around: Gold 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Vault: Gold 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Uneven Bars: Gold 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Balance Beam: Gold 1975 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Floor Exercise: Gold 1975 Romania-Canada Dual Meet Team: Gold 1975 Romania-Canada Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1975 West Germany-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1975 West Germany-Romania Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1975 Romania-Italy Dual Meet Team: Gold 1975 Romania-Italy Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1975 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Team: Gold 1975 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships All Around: Gold 1975 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Vault: Gold 1975 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Uneven Bars: Gold 1975 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Balance Beam: Gold 1975 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Floor Exercise: Silver 1975 United Press International Athlete of the Year
1976	4th Poll	Nadia Comăneci (2×)	artistic gymnastics	1976 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's artistic individual all-around: Gold 1976 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's uneven bars: Gold 1976 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's balance beam: Gold 1976 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's artistic team all-around: Silver 1976 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's floor: Bronze 1976 American Cup All Around: Gold 1976 Chunichi Cup All Around: Gold 1976 Balkan Gymnastics Championship Team: Gold 1976 Balkan Gymnastics Championship All Around: Gold 1976 Balkan Gymnastics Championship Vault: Gold 1976 Balkan Gymnastics Championship Uneven Bars: Gold 1976 Balkan Gymnastics Championship Balance Beam: Gold 1976 Balkan Gymnastics Championship Floor Exercise: Gold 1976 USA-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1976 USA-Romania Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1976 Canada-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1976 Canada-Romania All Around: Gold 1976 Great Britain-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1976 Great Britain-Romania Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1976 West Germany-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1976 West-Germany-Romania All Around: Gold 1976 Netherlands-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1976 Netherlands-Romania Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1976 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships All Around: Gold 1976 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Vault: Gold 1976 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Uneven Bars: Gold 1976 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Balance Beam: Gold 1976 Romanian Gymnastics National Championships Floor Exercise: Silver 1976 United Press International Athlete of the Year 1976 Associated Press Athlete of the Year 1976 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year 1976 Hero of Socialist Labour
1977	5th Poll	Totka Petrova	athletics	1977 IAAF World Cup 800 metres: Gold 1977 European Athletics Indoor Championships: 800 metres Silver 1977 Summer Universiade Athletics 800 metres: Gold 1977 Summer Universiade Athletics 1500 metres: Gold 1977 Bulgarian Athletics Championships 800 metres Indoor: Gold 1977 Bulgarian Athletics Championships 800 metres Outdoor: Gold 1977 Bulgarian Athletics Championships 1500 metres Outdoor: Gold 1977 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1978	6th Poll	Miloš Srejović	athletics	1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's triple jump: Gold 1978 Triple jump of 16.94 meters: Yugoslavia men's national record
1979	7th Poll	Yanko Rusev	weightlifting	1979 World Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Snatch: Gold 1979 World Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Clean and Jerk: Gold 1979 World Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Total: Gold 1979 European Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Snatch: Gold 1979 European Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Clean and Jerk: Gold 1979 European Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Total: Gold 1979 Bulgarian Weightlifting Championships 67.5 kg Weight Class Clean and Jerk: Gold 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Snatch: 145 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Snatch: 146 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Clean and Jerk: 181.5 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Snatch: 147 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Clean and Jerk: 185.5 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Total: (2) 325 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Clean and Jerk: 187.5 kg World Record 1979 Men's 67.5 kg Weight Class Total: (2) 332.5 kg World Record
1980	8th Poll	Nadia Comăneci (3×)	artistic gymnastics	1980 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's artistic team all-around: Silver 1980 Summer Olympics Gymnastics artistic individual all-around: Silver 1980 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's balance beam: Gold 1980 Summer Olympics Gymnastics – Women's floor: Gold 1980 Italy-Romania Dual Meet Team: Gold 1980 Italy-Romania Dual Meet All Around: Gold 1980 International Championship of Romania All Around: Gold 1980 International Championship of Romania Uneven Bars: Gold
1981	9th Poll	Antoaneta Todorova	athletics
1982	10th Poll	Blagoy Blagoev	weightlifting	1982 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1983	11th Poll	Diliana Georgieva	rhythmic gymnastics
1984	12th Poll	Lyudmila Andonova	athletics	1984 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1985	13th Poll	Stefka Kostadinova	athletics	1985 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1986	14th Poll	Yordanka Donkova	athletics	1986 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1987	15th Poll	Stefka Kostadinova (2×)	athletics	1987 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1988	16th Poll	Daniela Silivaș	artistic gymnastics
1989	17th Poll	Paula Ivan	athletics
1990	18th Poll	Monica Seles	tennis	Yugoslav Sportswoman of the Year (1990)
1991	19th Poll	Monica Seles (2×)	tennis
1992	20th Poll	Voula Patoulidou	athletics	1992 Greek Female Athlete of the Year
1993	21st Poll	Ivan Ivanov	weightlifting
1994	22nd Poll	Hristo Stoichkov	football	1994 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1995	23rd Poll	Stefka Kostadinova (3×)	athletics	1995 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1996	24th Poll	Stefka Kostadinova (4×)	athletics	1996 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1997	25th Poll	Stefka Kostadinova (5×)	athletics
1998	26th Poll	Ekaterina Dafovska	biathlon	1998 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
1999	27th Poll	Gabriela Szabo	athletics
2000	28th Poll	Kostas Kenteris	athletics	2000 Greek Male Athlete of the Year
2001	29th Poll	Kostas Kenteris (2×)	athletics	2001 Greek Male Athlete of the Year
2002	30th Poll	Georgi Markov	weightlifting
2003	31st Poll	Yordan Yovchev	artistic gymnastics	2003 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
2004	32nd Poll	Maria Grozdeva	shooting	2004 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year
2005	33rd Poll	Marian Drăgulescu	artistic gymnastics
2006	34th Poll	Vanya Stambolova	athletics
2007	35th Poll	Rumyana Neykova	rowing
2008	36th Poll	Constantina Tomescu	athletics
2009	37th Poll	Vassilis Spanoulis	basketball		^[3]
2010	38th Poll	Stanka Zlateva	wrestling	2010 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year	^[4]
2011	39th Poll	Novak Djokovic	tennis	2011 Serbian Sportsman of the Year	^[5]
2012	40th Poll	Novak Djokovic (2×)	tennis		^[6]
2013	41st Poll	Novak Djokovic (3×)	tennis	2013 Serbian Sportsman of the Year
2014	42nd Poll	Novak Djokovic (4×)	tennis	2014 Serbian Sportsman of the Year
2015	43rd Poll	Novak Djokovic (5×)	tennis	2015 Serbian Sportsman of the Year	^[7]
2016	44th Poll	Sandra Perković	athletics	2016 Croatian Sportswoman of the Year	^[8]
2017	45th Poll	Grigor Dimitrov	tennis	2017 Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year	^[9]
2018	46th Poll	Luka Modrić	football	2018 Croatian Sportsman of the Year	^[10]
2019	47th Poll	Novak Djokovic (6×)	tennis	2019 Serbian Sportsman of the Year
2020	Cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021	48th Poll	Novak Djokovic (7×)	tennis		^[11]
2022	49th Poll	David Popovici	swimming		^[12]
2023	50th Poll	Novak Djokovic (8×)	tennis	2023 Serbian Sportsman of the Year	^[13]
2024	51st Poll	Miltos Tentoglou	long jump	2024 Greek Male Athlete of the Year	^[14] ^[15] ^[16]

References

^ Dimitar Veliov (January 17, 2025). "Всички победители в анкетата на БТА "Спортист на Балканите"". www.bta.bg. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
^ "Djokovic named Balkan athlete of the year for a record eighth time ahead of Jokic". AP News. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
^ "Spanoulis named Balkan athlete of the year". reuters.com. December 23, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Zlateva beats Djokovic to win Balkan athlete of year". www.ft.lk. December 23, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ India TV News Desk (December 14, 2011). "Djokovic Chosen Balkan Athlete Of The Year". indiatvnews.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ James Crook (February 2, 2013). "Djokovic named Balkan Athlete of the Year". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Modric wins Balkan athlete of the year award". tribuna.com. December 27, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ Mia / Zaman.mk (January 18, 2017). "Croatia's Perkovic named Balkan Athlete of the Year". zaman.mk. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ Adam Addicott (December 18, 2017). "Grigor Dimitrov Tops Halep To Be Named Balkan Athlete Of 2017". ubitennis.net. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Luka Modric beats Novak Djokovic to win Balkan athlete of year". hindustantimes.com. December 27, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Novak Djokovic named best Balkan athlete for record 7th time; Giannis Antetokounmpo finishes runner-up". espn.com. Associated Press. December 29, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Romanian swimmer Popovici named Best Balkan Athlete of 2022". Associated Press News. apnews.com. December 28, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^ "Djokovic named Balkan athlete of the year for a record eighth time ahead of Jokic". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 15, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
^ "Greek Long Jump Athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou Wins 51st Edition of BTA's Balkan Athlete of the Year Poll for 2024". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 17, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
^ "Greek long jump athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou wins 51st edition of BTA's Balkan athlete of the year poll for 2024". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 20, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
^ "Olympic long jump champion Tentoglou named Balkan athlete of the year". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 17, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.

External links

All Winners of the BTA "Athlete of the Balkans" Poll (in Bulgarian)
Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) official website (in English)
Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) official website (in Bulgarian)

[1] Dimitar Veliov (January 17, 2025). "Всички победители в анкетата на БТА "Спортист на Балканите"". www.bta.bg. Retrieved May 16, 2025.

[Djokovic-2] "Djokovic named Balkan athlete of the year for a record eighth time ahead of Jokic". AP News. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-17.

[3] "Spanoulis named Balkan athlete of the year". reuters.com. December 23, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[4] "Zlateva beats Djokovic to win Balkan athlete of year". www.ft.lk. December 23, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[5] India TV News Desk (December 14, 2011). "Djokovic Chosen Balkan Athlete Of The Year". indiatvnews.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[6] James Crook (February 2, 2013). "Djokovic named Balkan Athlete of the Year". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[7] "Modric wins Balkan athlete of the year award". tribuna.com. December 27, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[8] Mia / Zaman.mk (January 18, 2017). "Croatia's Perkovic named Balkan Athlete of the Year". zaman.mk. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[9] Adam Addicott (December 18, 2017). "Grigor Dimitrov Tops Halep To Be Named Balkan Athlete Of 2017". ubitennis.net. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[10] "Luka Modric beats Novak Djokovic to win Balkan athlete of year". hindustantimes.com. December 27, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[11] "Novak Djokovic named best Balkan athlete for record 7th time; Giannis Antetokounmpo finishes runner-up". espn.com. Associated Press. December 29, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[12] "Romanian swimmer Popovici named Best Balkan Athlete of 2022". Associated Press News. apnews.com. December 28, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

[13] "Djokovic named Balkan athlete of the year for a record eighth time ahead of Jokic". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 15, 2024. Retrieved May 16, 2025.

[14] "Greek Long Jump Athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou Wins 51st Edition of BTA's Balkan Athlete of the Year Poll for 2024". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 17, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.

[15] "Greek long jump athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou wins 51st edition of BTA's Balkan athlete of the year poll for 2024". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 20, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.

[16] "Olympic long jump champion Tentoglou named Balkan athlete of the year". Associated Press News. apnews.com. January 17, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.

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Sportsperson of the Year
National	Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Sportsman of the Year Sports Merit Award Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Canada Northern Star Award (general) Conacher (male) Rosenfeld (female) Springstead (female) Croatia Czechoslovakia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland India Iran Ireland Italy La Gazzetta International Sports Prize Jamaica Japan Kenya Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Serbia NOC Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal Jerring Award Swedish Sports Awards Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Main award Northern Ireland Scotland Wales United States AP ESPY female male The Sporting News Sports Illustrated NOC USSR Vanuatu Yugoslavia Sport Sportske novosti Zimbabwe
Regional
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World	BBC World Sport Star of the Year International Sports Prize La Gazzetta Laureus Awards L'Équipe Champion of Champions

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Awards