In the VTsIOM poll, the second place was taken by the skier Alexander Bolshunov, the third by the hockey player Alexander Ovechkin
Photo: Kirill Kukhmar / TASS
The Beijing Olympic champion in the team tournament, figure skater Kamila Valieva, became the athlete of the year according to the Russians. This is evidenced by the results of the VTsIOM survey, published on the organization’s website.
A significant answer to the question about last year’s athletes was able to give a third of Russians (31%). Valiev was nominated by 7% of respondents. Followed by skier Alexander Bolshunov (5%) and hockey player Alexander Ovechkin (4%). Skaters Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova each got 2%.
Therefore, in the responses of the Russians there is a certain bias in favor of skaters: a total of 14% named former and current champions of this sport.
As the responses of Russians in different years show, the probability of getting into the national ranking depends on the achievements of athletes in major competitions. Five times, in 2006-2007 and 2012-2014, he was led by one of the most titled figure skaters in Russia, Evgeni Plushenko. In 2018 – Olympic champion in figure skating Alina Zagitova (11%), two years later – UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (10%).
VTsIOM noted that the involvement of Russians in the sports agenda depends on their media preferences. A significant response was most often given by active Internet users (33%) and those who prefer a hybrid model of media consumption (35%). In the group of active viewers, this share is 1.7 times lower (19%).
