NICOSIA, January 16, 2023 - Artistic gymnast Marios Georgiou and freestyle swimmer Kalia Antoniou were voted as Cyprus’ top male and female athlete of 2022. The two athletes were presented their award during the 50th annual Cyprus Sports Writers Association (EAK) award ceremony, which took place on Thursday 12 January 2023, at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre.
The award ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, the President of the House or Representatives Mrs. Annita Demetriou, as well as members of the Cabinet and Parliament and the sporting leadership of Cyprus.
Two-time Olympian Marios Georgiou was named the best athlete of the country for the first time in his career, after becoming European champion in the horizontal bar at the 2022 European Championships in Munich. He also won four bronze medals (individual all around, team all around, parallel bars, horizontal bar) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and two medals in the Mediterranean Games in Oran, a gold in the horizontal bar and a bronze in the individual all-around.
Kalia Antoniou was also named the best athlete of Cyprus for the first time in her career. The “Tokyo 2020” Olympian swimmer, who competes in the NCAA for the University of Alabama, won gold (50m freestyle) and bronze (100m freestyle) at the 2022 Mediterranean Games, while she also became the first swimmer from Cyprus ever that qualified to the semifinals of a FINA World Championship event, by taking 10th and 13th position at Budapest 2022, in the 50m free and 100m free, respectively.
In the team awards, AEK Larnaca was named the best men’s team and Apollon Ladies the top women’s team, both from the sport of football.
The “Aristion”, Cyprus’ most prestigious sporting award, was presented by the President of the Republic to Kyriakos Ioannou. The now-retired high-jumper won three medals in World Championships in Athletics, Cyprus’ only medals ever in the event. Ioannou won bronze in Osaka 2007, silver in Berlin 2009 and a bronze in the 2008 Indoor World Championships in Valencia. He is a four-time Olympian and the only Cypriot to qualify to two different Olympic finals in athletics.
EAK thanked its sponsors OPAP Cyprus, Cytavision, Unicars, Bank of Cyprus, Hercules Trophies, Psaltis Auto Parts, CNP CYPRIALIFE, Alphamega Hypermarkets, Carlsberg for the support, as well as the Cyprus Sports Organization (KOA) who placed the event under its auspices. And the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) for the live television coverage.
In attendance were guests from abroad. AIPS vice president Yiannis Daras. AIPS Europe president Charles Camenzuli. AIPS Europe vice president György Szöllősi and secretary general Murat Agca. The president of the Malta Sports Journalists Association Sandro Micallef. The president of the Hellenic Sports Journalists Association Yiannis Theodorakopoulos and board members Demetris Kanelakis and Antonis Papoutsakis..
The final results of the vote from the members of EAK:
Male athletes
Name Points (first place votes)
1. Georgiou Marios (Gymnastics) – 786 (58)
2. Kontides Pavlos (Sailing) – 741 (20)
3. Georgiou Ilias (Gymnastics) – 561 (1)
4. Trajkovic Milan (Athletics) – 513 (1)
5. Parellis Apostolos (Athletics) – 502 (2)
6. Antoniou Nikolas (Swimming) – 428 (1)
7. Balarjishvili Giorgos (Judo) – 351 (0)
8. Nikolaides Stefanos (Shooting) – 277 (0)
9. Poursanides Alexandros (Athletics) – 230 (0)
10. Pilakouris Sokratis (Gymnastics) – 176 (0)
Female athletes
Name Points (first place votes)
1. Antoniou Kalia (Swimming) – 691 (30)
2. Fotopoulou Olivia (Athletics) – 687 (27)
3. Makri Marilena (Sailing) – 525 (5)
4. Constantinou Manolina (Volleyball) – 481 (8)
5. Sokoleva Anna (Rhythmic Gymnastics) – 467 (5)
6. Fotopoulou Filippa (Athletics) – 441 (0)
7. Pilakouta Elena (Basketball) – 414 (5)
8. Christoforou Andri (Cycling) – 400 (3)
9. Nikolaou Constantina (Shooting) – 376 (0)
Top men’s teams
Team Points (first place votes)
1. AEK (football) – 711 (36)
2. Apollon (football) – 658 (18)
3. Men’s national team (artistic gymnastics) – 591 (16)
4. Anorthosis (handball) – 572 (5)
5. Keravnos (basketball) – 549 (6)
6. Omonia (volleyball) – 467 (0)
7. Omonia (football) – 456 (2)
8. Mesa Geitonia (water polo) – 312 (0)
Top women’s teams
Team Points (first place votes)
1. Apollon Ladies (football) – 728 (35)
2. National Team 3x3 (basketball) – 712 (27)
3. Anagennisi (basketball) – 707 (14)
4. Apollon (volleyball) – 638 (5)
5. Athienou (handball) – 535 (2)
