Winners of AIPS Best Male and Best Female Champions of last 100 years named at UNESCO HQ in Paris on Tuesday
By Philip Barker, at UNESCO HQ, Paris
Sports Journalists’ Association Committee member James Toney and photographer Eileen Langsley have received awards for covering more than 10 Olympic Games.
The presentations were made by champions including Lord Coe, Daley Thompson, Sir Chris Hoy and Baroness Grey-Thompson at the UNESCO building in Paris as part of a long event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS).
The British contingent also includes John Goodbody, who is also in Paris covering his 14th Games.
Performances from the Kataklo dance troupe recalled the foundation of the AIPS which took place in a Parisian boxing ring in the days before the 1924 Olympics.
The first President had been Frantz Reichel, an Olympic champion in Rugby in 1900 when the Games were also held in Paris.
An AIPS poll to find the outstanding sporting performers of the last century voted Muhammad Ali the top sportsman and Serena Williams the outstanding sportswoman.
French Olympic minister Amelie Oudea Castera admitted that “London 2012 was the benchmark” for the Paris 2024 Olympic preparations.
She also paid tribute to the role of Journalists during the Games.
“What would the inspiring stories be without those who capture the fleeting and transform it into the timeless,” she said.
“These Games demonstrate the power of sport. Thanks to these Games, the French people healed as a nation. We need your hearts and brains, we need your love of sport, we need you to inspire,” she told the gathering.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera has admitted "London was the benchmark" for their preparations pic.twitter.com/4uaHF0VO74
— Philip Barker (@pbarkersport) August 6, 2024
For more information, visit the AIPS website.
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