site.btaUPDATED Romanian Swimmer David Popovici Named Balkan Athlete of the Year 2022 in BTA Poll

Romanian swimmer David Popovici is the winner of the 49th edition of BTA's poll Balkan Athlete of the Year 2022. The only Bulgarian in the top 10, basketball player Alexander Vezenkov, ranked eighth.

Participating in the 49th edition of the poll in 2022 were the national news agencies from the region: BTA (Bulgaria), ANA-MPA (Greece), AGERPRES (Romania), Anatolu Agency (Turkiye), TANJUG (Serbia), MINA (Montenegro), MIA (North Macedonia), HINA (Croatia), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and ATA (Albania). 

The 18-year-old Popovici scored 64 points in the poll. He won the men's 100m and 200m freestyle world and European titles, and set a new 100m freestyle world record. Popovici also won a total of ten gold medals at the World and European Junior Championships, and earlier in the week he was named Europe's No.1 swimmer for the season. 

Second, with 61 points, was the champion of Wimbledon and the Association of Professional Tennis Players Final Novak Djokovic (Serbia). Djokovic is a record holder with seven first-place rankings in the BTA poll.

Bulgarian basketball player Aleksandar Vezenkov ranked eighth with 21 points. With the Bulgarian national team, he ranked first in the European Championship in total rebounds, and at the club level he became a key player for the Greek team Olympiacos, with whom he played in the Final Four of the Euroleague and was selected to the ideal team of the tournament.