The ski jumper, who put her jumping skis on the shelf last year, received a standing ovation and a stomp when she won this year’s name at the Sports Gala. “Maren, Maren, Maren” also echoed from the audience in Trondheim Spektrum. – This is absolutely fantastic. I am very surprised, and I really look up to the athletes who have been nominated in that category here, says Lundby. Maren Lundby is again the winner, voted for by the people, after being one of 18 nominees. In the end, she was one of six finalists, and beat a very strong field in the fight for the award. Lundby beat Viktor Hovland, Erling Braut Haaland, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Grace Bullen and Jeanette Hegg Duestad in the fight for the prize. – It’s quite unreal actually. I look up to all the others in that category. It’s a bit strange really, but I’m incredibly grateful. I can feel a warmth from the hall, says Lundby to news. And about beating Haaland and Hovland in the battle for the award, she says: – It’s really huge, to see what they have achieved. I sit and watch almost every match Haaland plays and at Hovland when he plays. What to say, it feels a bit strange, but I am very grateful. This is the second time Lundby has been voted for this year’s name by the people. She also won it in 2022. Last year it was Erling Braut Haaland who won. But it is this one that matters the most, she says. – Considering the competition and what they have delivered, it is very great to be voted ahead of them. I have to admit it. So it is perhaps this one that hangs the highest. These have won the Name of the Year award at the Sports Gala 2002: Bente Skari and Ole Einar Bjørndalen 2003: Ole Einar Bjørndalen 2004: Petter Solberg 2005: Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå 2006: Marit Bjørgen 2007: Kjetil André Aamodt 2008: Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset 2009: Women’s national handball team 2010: Petter Northug 2011: Thor Hushovd 2012: Therese Johaug 2013: Cecilia Brækhus 2014: Magnus Carlsen 2015: Alexander Kristoff 2016: Petter Northug 2017: Stig-André Berge 2018: Karsten Warholm 2019: Marit Bjørgen 2020: Karsten Warholm 2021 : Not awarded 2022: Maren Lundby 2023: Erling Braut Haaland 2024: Maren Lundby The year marks the year the prize was awarded. Cato Zahl Pedersen received the honorary award Cato Zahl Pedersen was awarded the honorary award at the Sports Gala on Saturday for his efforts as a para athlete and for Norwegian sport. It was Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) and sports president Zaineb Al-Samarai who presented the award to the 64-year-old. – He has crossed the South Pole and almost reached the top of Mount Everest, all of which he has impressively done without arms, said the sports president. “A champion for the rights of all people, he is in many ways Mr. Paraidrett in Norway, and has dedicated his life to strengthening the conditions and creating opportunities for people with disabilities”, was the introduction Pedersen received when he took the stage. It was a tearful Pedersen who stood on stage and thanked for the honorary award. – Many heartfelt thanks to the jury. I got the award, but we know there are so many people behind this award. Which is crucial for me to have been able to do everything I have been able to do, said Pedersen. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB Pedersen was for a number of years Norway’s leading para athlete. He has a total of 13 gold and one silver in the Paralympics. Earlier on Saturday evening, he also presented the Role Model of the Year award, which Viktor Hovland won. Historic award for Haaland Haaland has soon won everything that can be won. There were also several awards at the Sports Gala. On Saturday evening, he won both the award for male athlete of the year – and the award for the athletes. And it is actually the first time a footballer has won the male athlete of the year award. – Many thanks to the jury who voted for me for this award. It was a fantastic year for me and the team. At the same time, there are many other athletes in Norway who had a fantastic year, so I really appreciate that, said Haaland via a video greeting. But it also got a little mixed up for the superstar: Haaland was nominated for the award last year as well, but was then beaten by Jakob Ingebrigtsen. That Haaland won this year can hardly be called a surprise after what he had last year. Cup champion, league champion and champion league winner – in addition to top scorer in both the Champions League and Premier League – where he also erased the old goal record. He won the European Golden Boot, was named BBC World Sportsperson of the Year and ended the year by winning the Club World Cup with Manchester City (although admittedly he did not play due to injury). Some time after he received the male athlete of the year award, Haaland collected his second of the evening when he walked away with the athletes’ award – voted for by his own sports colleagues. – This is nice and it’s great to win the athletes’ prize. There are so many others who could have won it, so I really appreciate it, says Haaland in a new video greeting. Follow the Sports Gala here: Nordås made the breakthrough It must be well done to break into the Norwegian athletics elite when you have stars like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Karsten Warholm, but Narve Gilje Nordås was a name on many people’s lips in 2023. And he won the prize for this year’s breakthrough . From the training stay at Sierra Nevada, Nordås greeted via video. – You and you, the breakthrough of the year! You certainly shouldn’t complain about that, and I really appreciate it considering the other nominees, says Nordås after receiving the award from Espen Bredesen and Oddvar Brå. MEDAL BOY: Narve Gilje Nordås shows off the WC bronze from the championship in Budapest last summer. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB Norway’s new athletics star took time to pay tribute to Gjert Ingebrigtsen. – According to my calculations, this is probably the fourth athlete he trains to receive this award. I would assume that this is the definition of a relatively decent coach. Nordås from Rogalland made a big impression when he won his first international championship medal with bronze in the 1,500 meters during the Athletics World Championships in Budapest. In the same exercise, he ran to NM gold. The 1,500- and 5,000-meter runner has been fully praised by experts throughout 2023. news’s athletics expert Vebjørn Rodal described Nordås’ 2023 as adventurous, and stated that we have got another 1,500-meter runner at the top of the world. Prestigious prize for Hovland Golf star Viktor Hovland received the prize for this year’s role model on Saturday. – It’s fucking cool! It is a great honour, said a very surprised Hovland when he was surprised with the award during a podcast recording. Hovland had an exceptional year as a golfer, and in 2023 has established himself at the very top among the world’s elite. With second place in the PGA Championship, victory in the Memorial Tournament and the TOUR Championship, he secured the prestigious FedEx Cup title. In addition, Hovland had a key role in Europe’s victory in the Ryder Cup. As of now, he is ranked number four on the PGA’s world ranking, and considered one of the very best golfers in the world. Photo: REMO CASILLI / Reuters Prize for Wiklund Skater Ragne Wiklund won European Championship bronze in the Dutch Heerenveen on Friday, and on Saturday she got another boost when she was named female athlete of the year. Wiklund had a brilliant 2023 and took WC gold in Heerenveen and EC silver in Hamar after winning the 3000 and 5000 metres. There were also a total of four NM gold medals during the Norwegian championship in individual distances in Bjugn. She also became the first woman to win a medal in the all-round EC and won the long-distance cup. Last summer, she was awarded Egerberg’s honorary prize during the sports council. It is considered the highest award in Norwegian sports. Photo: Piotr HawaÅ‚ej / AP Alnes “thanked” Guardiola – There are many to thank. Perhaps I should thank Pep Guardiola that he is not Norwegian, said Leif Olav Alnes from the stage – to laughter from the audience. Guardiola is Erling Braut Haaland’s coach at Manchester City, and considered by many to be the world’s best football coach. For the fourth time, Alnes was named coach of the year in Norwegian sports. The last time he got it was four years ago. The awards at the sports gala Team of the year: Vipers Kristiansand (handball) Coach of the year: Leif Olav Alnes (athletics) Male athlete of the year: Erling Braut Haaland (football) Female para athlete of the year: Birgit Skarstein (rowing) Athletes’ award: Erling Braut Haaland (football) Breakthrough of the year : Narve Gilje Nordås (athletics) Spirit of the Year: Adnan Naeem (Romsås IL) Male Para Athlete of the Year: Jesper Saltvik Pedersen Role Model of the Year: Viktor Hovland (golf) Female Athlete of the Year: Ragne Wiklund (skating) Name of the Year: Maren Lundby Honorary Award: Cato Zahl Pedersen The charismatic coach from Møre & Romsdal, together with his pupil Karsten Warholm, won a third WC gold during the World Championships in Budapest last summer. Warholm and Alnes have become a popular duo, not only because of their success on the track, but also the camaraderie between them, despite the age difference of 39 years. Warholm has previously described Alnes as crazy and brilliant. – I have said many times that a good coach is someone who manages to take a picture with a good player. So I’m glad the wife brought a camera, says Alnes himself about the award. See Alnes’ speech here: It was Warholm who took part in handing out the award to his own coach. He did that together with para athlete Jesper Saltvik Pedersen. – I wouldn’t be where I am today without my coach, Warholm said from the stage. Award to Skarstein and Saltvik Pedersen Birgit Skarstein received the award for female para athlete of the year, while Jesper Saltvik Pedersen was named male para athlete of the year. In September, Skarstein rowed to her sixth WC title, and that was far from the only thing she did: 2023 was indeed a fantastic year for the Trønder. In May, she won her third straight EC gold. A month later, she set a world record in para-rowing. She ended the year by winning two high-profile awards: Together with the Sunnaasstiftelsen, she won the Bergesen Prize for her efforts for para sports and people with disabilities, and she was also honored with Trønder-Avisa’s Honor Award in 2023. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB Medal wholesaler Jesper Saltvik Pedersen collected a total of five medals during the WC in para-alpine: Four gold and one bronze. It already happened in January last year, and later that year he also won the overall World Cup. He was also, together with Birgit Skarstein, honored with the Trysil-Knut prize for his efforts on the sports field. It is one of the biggest prizes in Norwegian sport, and has previously been won by Marit Bjørgen, Queen Sonja, Aksel Lund Svindal and Gunnar Sønsteby. Vipers with the evening’s first prize After Åge Aleksandersen opened the 2024 Sports Gala with the hit song “Live life”, Vipers Kristiansand received the sports gala’s first prize. Sørlandsklubben was named “Team of the Year” after an adventurous last year. In 2023, the superb Vipers became league champions for the sixth time in a row, and by a superb margin. Not only that, they also won the Champions League in handball where they beat Hungarian Ferencváros 28–24. Sørlandsklubben, with profiles such as Katrine Lunde and Marta Tomac, has cleaned up Norwegian handball in recent years. Now they have also been named team of the year. Anders Aukland and Camilla Gjersem presented the award. No one from the handball team was present in Trondheim to accept the award, but the team followed the awarding via video. Veteran goalkeeper Katrine Lunde gave a short speech of thanks on behalf of the team. Adnan Naeem beat more than 700 other nominees when he won the Firefighter of the Year award. Naeem, who works daily as a police officer in Oslo, received the award after the work he has put in as a volunteer for Romsås IL. He received both a standing ovation and a clap from the more than 7,000 people who are in place in Trondheim Spektrum to celebrate the sports year 2023. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB
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Maren Lundby named the name of the year at the Sports Gala – historic award to Haaland – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
