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The news agency Prensa Latina announced the results of its annual traditional survey to select the best athletes in Latin America, in which Cuba achieved a historic dominance by winning the three main awards: female athlete, male athlete, and best team.
According to the publication itself, this is only the second time in the history of the survey— the first occurred in 1989—that a single country sweeps all categories.
The triple jumper Leyanis Pérez was the clear favorite from the start of the voting on November 21, and she was named Best Female Athlete after receiving 73 votes, in a category where 17 athletes were nominated.
In the men's category, the left-handed pitcher Liván Moinelo, champion in the professional baseball league of Japan, made history by becoming the first Cuban player to win the award for Best Male Athlete in Latin America. In this 61st edition, Moinelo received 42 votes, comfortably surpassing the Argentine Lionel Messi, who finished second with 19 votes.
The Best Team category was the most competitive until the end of the voting. The Cuban youth baseball 5 team, world champions in Nayarit, Mexico, staged a comeback in the final voting and took home the award with 37 votes, just four more than the Argentine national football team, La Albiceleste.
The survey received over 110 votes from media outlets in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. A total of 113 media outlets participated, of which 70 were foreign and 43 were Cuban. For the second consecutive year, Alma Plus TV was part of the process, reaffirming its commitment to regional sports journalism.
The awards ceremony is scheduled for January 9 at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, where a tribute will also be paid to the legendary high jumper Javier Sotomayor, the Cuban with the most wins in the history of the poll, with five awards.
The voting organized by Prensa Latina began in 1964, when Cuban sprinter Enrique Figuerola was the first winner. In 1980, the category for Best Team of the Year was added, and starting in 1988, separate distinctions for male and female athletes were established. The only precedent for total Cuban dominance was recorded in 1989, with Sotomayor, Ana Fidelia Quirot, and the women's volleyball team.
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