Bosnia and Herzegovina has won the best athletes for the 24th time, and the year that is coming to an end was marked by swimmer Lana Pudar and basketball player Džanan Musa, who were crowned tonight in Sarajevo at the event of the Best Athlete of BiH organized by “Nezavisne novine” and Radio-Television BiH.
The jury of the 24th Best Athlete of BiH election unanimously decided that this year’s laureates would be Lana Pudar and Džanan Musa, who had an unforgettable year behind them. This is the third time in a row that Lana and Džanan have won flattering titles.
Lana Pudar wrote the history of BiH sports and swimming this year as well. At the World Championships in Doha, she won a bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly. It was the first medal ever for BiH from a world championship. She continued her harvest of medals from major competitions at the European Championships in Belgrade. She won a silver medal in the same discipline as in Doha.
Also in the competition were skier Elvedina Muzaferija, cyclist Lejla Njemčević, karate player Marina Kurteš…
Džanan Musa showed class this year again in the jerseys of Real Madrid and the BiH national team. He crowned his phenomenal season in the jersey of the ‘royal club’ with the championship title in Spain, and with his games he earned the award for the most valuable player of the ACB League final series against Murcia. He brought the BiH national team to the threshold of qualifying for Eurobasket 2025.
In the competition for the best athlete, names such as Sead Kolašinac (football), Benjamin Burić (handball), Anes Bostandžić (karate)…
Awards were traditionally awarded in a total of 12 categories.
The epithet of the best team was taken by the Borac Football Club, which wrote the most beautiful pages in the club’s history this year. The third title of the BiH champion was won, and the icing on the cake were European appearances. Borac eventually qualified for the group stage of the Conference League, where they also recorded historic victories against APOEL and LASK.
The award for the best coach deservedly went to Mladen Žižović, head coach of FK Borac. Žižović was the creator of the historic results of the Banja Luka team on the European stage.
The most promising athletes were tennis player Tea Kovačević and athlete Arian Milicija.
The award for the development of sports was also presented, and this title went to the Respekt Football Club.
The jury awarded the award for the sports role model to the phenomenal Ismail Zulfić, while the best athlete in Paralympic sport was the amazing swimmer Ismail Barlov.
The award for the best team in Paralympic sport went to the BiH national team in sitting volleyball.
Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to the celebrated Željezničar football player Enver Hadžiabdić, former football ace and first coach of the BiH national football team Fuad Muzurović, BiH sports great Zlatan Saračević and posthumously legendary FK Sarajevo football player Dženan Uščuplić.
