Djokovic named Balkan athlete of the year for a record eighth time ahead of Jokic

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Novak Djokovic was named the Best Balkan Athlete of the year on Monday for a record eighth time, ahead of NBA star Nikola Jokic.

The 36-year-old Djokovic won three Grand Slam titles in 2023 to take his record tally to 24, while Jokic was named the NBA Finals MVP after leading the Denver Nuggets to the title. Both are from Serbia.

The results of the annual poll were published by the Bulgarian News Agency. A total of 58 athletes received votes in the poll this year, with Bulgarian basketball player Alexandar Vezenkov coming third.

Long jumpers Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece and Ivana Spanovic of Serbia, who won the men's and women's world championship titles last year, were fourth and fifth, respectively.

This was the 50th anniversary edition of the Balkan poll, which is traditionally conducted by the national news agencies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. This year, organizers also expanded the vote to include the Italian news agency ANSA, the Cyprus News Agency and KosovoPress.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis