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AIPS Sport Media Awards 2024: Writing Best Colour Piece Longlist
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LAUSANNE, March 20, 2025 - The AIPS Sport Media Awards are pleased to announce the longlist for the Writing Best Colour Piece category.
The longlist represents the first judging stage and is based on the average ratings of the AIPS panel of specialists, the Executive Committee members and the members of the Jury.
Find out more about the judging stages HERE.
Participants with two submissions in the longlist can find both listed side by side. Below are the selected works, in alphabetical order of country:
Disclaimer: All names and information have been published as we have received them, for any corrections please contact us at info@aipsmedia.com or send us a direct message on social media @aipsmedia.
WRITING BEST COLOUR PIECE
Saeedullah Safi (Afghanistan), The cycling sisters defying the Taliban to compete in the Paris Olympics - The Afghan Times
Pablo Amalfitano (Argentina), Paula Ormaechea, la angustia detrás del deporte: "Me subía a un avión y pensaba: si se cae está todo - Página/12
Lucio Ortiz (Argentina), From the ring to exile: An unbreakable friendship between Pascualito and Perón - Diario Mendoza
Sebastian Torok (Argentina), Novak Djokovic, the man and the legend: “What makes me fragile?” - Diario La Nacion de Argentina
Jeremy Story Carter (Australia), She Can Play - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Julian Linden (Australia), Short Notice - News Corp (Australia)
Shishir Hoque (Bangladesh), Like a revolt near distant border - Dhaka Tribune
Philippe Vande Weyer (Belgium), Dix Jeux olympiques, quelle tranche de vie! - Le Soir
Camila Alves (Brazil), "My coach tried to kiss me": unprecedented survey reveals cases of harassment in women's football - Globo
Sebastián Varela (Chile), Seven years after the tragedy, the United Cup as an opportunity for Chile’s Daniela Seguel – CLAY
Wufei Yu (China), The Sudden Death of a 17-Year-Old Chinese Rising Badminton Star - Sanlian Lifeweek Magazine
Yu Zhao (China), The Anger, Disappointment, and Perseverance of a Chinese Super League Club Investor. - lanxiong sports
Ángel Miguel Pérez Martínez (Colombia), The world champion who defeated more than 7 demons - Korraleja
Ondrej Trunecka (Czech Republic), 200 million trick and other questionable steps of the Czech hockey association - iDNES.cz
Sebastian Mikkelsen (Denmark), Emma Lund: How Para-Cycling helped Danish World Champion overcome bullying and depression - Olympics.com
Ahmed Aboelnasr (Egypt) "Fake muscle steroids" A Business That Kills Youngsters... Palm Oil, Sesame, Chicken and Pig Hormones - Elwatan newspapers
Louis Boulay (France), Park Si-Hun : “My life would have been better with the silver medal” - L'Equipe
Antoine Bourlon (France), Ohtani, le nouvel empereur - L'Équipe
Romain Donneux (France), Kenya, long-distance race against doping - L'Equipe
Quentin Moynet (France)*, "Dias Beach is a dangerous one" | Roumane, the fall of a little ace - L'Equipe
Christine Thomas (France), Everest, the death waterfall - L'equipe Explore
Tengiz Pachkoria (Georgia), 16-year-old Ejibia and “Tottenham Hotspur” football players - Mediagroup "Gruzia-Online"
Bassel Alhamdo (Germany), Syria’s Youth Soccer Teams Were the Pride of the Nation — But Dozens of Players Were Too Old To Compete - OCCRP and SIRAJ
Lars Spannagel (Germany), Sie kann im Wasser fliegen (She can fly in the water) - ZEIT Online
Simon Asare (Ghana), Saving the game: A clarion call for sports associations to sign onto UN's Sports for Climate Action - Ghana News Agency
Zoltán Balogh (Hungary), The silence of cowardice - judoinfo.hu
Péter Csillag (Hungary), Unknown football history: face to face with the enemy in the bloody summer of 1919 - Nemzeti Sport
Annesha Ghosh (India), You’ll Never Walk Alone - Vogue India
Sanket Jain (India), How an Indian farmer uses sports to save girls from early marriage – Devex
Suvam Pal (India), Exclusive: Taiwan Olympic Legend Finds Her Life Story In Aamir Khan's 'Dangal' - NDTV.com
James Corbett (Ireland), Two years on: How the business of Ukrainian football survived Russia’s invasion - Off The Pitch
Neil O'Riordan (Ireland)*, United Translations | Viva Palestina - Irish Sun
Mark Gallagher (Ireland), 'One way we can keep fighting is to keep playing - without football, we can show everyone we are still here as a people - Irish Daily Mail
Itay Goder (Israel)*, "I give you my word: nothing will happen to you here" | Der Schiedsrichter - Der Spiegel | Frankfurter Allgemeine
Federica Cocchi (Italy), Tathiana Garbin, the brave Italian tennis captain and the most important match of her life - La Gazzetta dello Sport
Maria Luisa Colledani (Italy), After escaping Colombia, fencing and Italy welcomed me - Il Sole 24 Ore
Marco Consoli (Italy), I trained the worst team in the world - Il Venerdì di Repubblica
Gabriele Gargantini (Italy)*, Paris Olympics '24, but of the twentieth century | Run 6.7 kilometers per hour, every hour, until you are the only one doing it - Il Post
Francesco Gottardi (Italy), The lagoon life of a football doge. Joel Pohjanpalo’s way - Il Foglio
Elias Makori (Kenya), South Sudan's Olympic basketball stars' Kenyan ties - Nation Media Group
Celestine Karoney (Kenya), I saw athlete on fire running towards me after attack, neighbour tells BBC - BBC
Jonathan Collazo (Mexico), The ghost VIP box: a business at the heart of the Mexican Grand Prix - Mediotiempo.com
Eduardo Enrique López Navarrete (Mexico)*, The Olympic weightlifter who left the circus and challenged the Cuban regime | Adriana Ruano, the gymnast who won gold with a rifle - Diario AS
Pepijn Keppel (Netherlands), “War minus the shooting” - De Groene Amsterdammer
Morakinyo Abodunrin (Nigeria), Victor Osimhen: From Lagos slum to Napoli sensation: Amazing rise of Africa’s soccer king – The Nation
Abiodun Adewale (Nigeria), Olusosun: Defying the odds, Lagos slum rises above filth, produces Africa’s football king - Punch Newspaper
Bethel Kalu (Nigeria), The Roar of Victory: Onyinyechi's Journey to Paralympic Gold and World Record - Igulafrica.com
Ida-marie Vatn (Norway), The coach and the policeman - TV 2
Magnus Wikan (Norway), The Last Days of Winter Sports - TV 2
Anushe Engineer (Pakistan), It’s all or nothing for Arshad Nadeem in Paris - Dawn Media Group
Fadi Hijazi (Palestine), Striker Barakat.. He wore the "martyrdom shirt" to score his retirement goal against the occupation - Shehab News Agency
Claudya Carolina Morales Meléndez (Panama), El duro camino a los Juegos Olímpicos: El sueño de Héctor que no pudo ser - TVN MEDIA, Televisora Nacional
Jose Encarnacion (Puerto Rico), “Confidential” report reveals theft of $2.4 million bet at the Camarero Racetrack - Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
Theodor Jumatate (Romania), “We fight” - GOLAZO.ro
Evgenii Sliusarenko (Russia), Why did the legendary champion change his surname? Let's continue to correct Olympic history - Sovsport.ru
Jaka Lopatic (Slovenia), Memories of Sarajevo '84 - TSmedia d.o.o.o (www.siol.net)
Firdose Moonda (South Africa), Extremely loud and incredibly vile: how social media abuse wrecks cricketers - ESPN
Miguel Angel Lara Adán (Spain)*, The first Eurocup without Queen Elizabeth | "Yo viví la Batalla de Belgrado" – Marca
José Ignacio Pérez Hernández (Spain),* I boxed in Mauthausen | The priest of padel – Marca
Javier Sánchez Ramos (Spain), Sylvie Fréchette, the Olympic champion in Barcelona 1992 who does not remember it: "My fiancé committed suicide and my mind protected me." - El Mundo
José Ignacio Martínez Rodríguez (Spain), Rugby to tackle prejudice - La Marea
David Ruiz de la Torre (Spain), Football lacks street skills: has the 21st century killed the geniuses of dribbling? – Marca
Laurent Favre (Switzerland), Le compte rendu de match, mort annoncée d’une chronique du récit sportif (The match report, death - Le Temps
Patrick Oberli (Switzerland), Marco Müller, soccer hopeful turned legendary bank robber - Le Matin Dimanche
Riath Al-Samarrai (UK), Bored of life without medals, tortured by his past, now facing bankruptcy: how Bradley Wiggins fell - Daily Mail
Jamie Barton (UK) - Rumble in the Jungle: The fight that defined a decade, 50 years on – CNN
Natalie Berry (UK), ‘The world didn’t care enough’: Ukrainian climber’s journey from Crimea to Olympic chance - The Guardian
Andrew Binner (UK), Once a fighter, always a fighter: Refugee wrestler Jamal Valizadeh's inspiring journey to the Olympic Games - Olympics.com
Oliver Brown (UK), 'My grandfather was berated for embracing Jesse Owens in Berlin' - The Daily Telegraph
Jason Burt (UK)*, My week in Saudi to discover the truth about disruptor league |‘The inmates have been running the jail’ – Deeney’s fight to save bottom club - The Telegraph
Alex Bysouth (UK)*, War, exile, hope - how Shakhtar continue to overcome adversity | Inaki and Nico Williams: Two brothers, one club and a 40-year wait - BBC Sport
Gareth A Davies (UK), George Foreman Exclusive interview ‘Defeat by Ali hurt so much, I fought five men in one night to prove my strength – Telegraph
Denis Devlin (UK), Sports Governing Bodies Remain Silent As Israel Continues To Systematically Eradicate Sporting Venue - Pro Sport Media Group
Piers Edwards (UK), The African footballers putting their hearts on the line - BBC
Jo Gunston (UK)*, Shark attack survivor and surfer Mike Coots: 'The ocean has given me much more than it's taken away' | Tim Peake on the oddities of running a marathon in space - Olympics.com
Jon Holmes (UK), How the Olympics became the queerest sporting event in the world - Outsports
Adam Leventhal (UK), Christian Atsu - one year on from the search to find him. Through the eyes of those closest to him.- The Athletic
Mark Lomas (UK)*, How Chilean football club Deportivo Palestino captured the hearts of the Arab world | Next Gen: Speed sisters - F1 Academy - Esquire Middle East | The Red Bulletin
Andy Mcgrath (UK)- A tale of two races - Cyclist Magazine
Ruth Mcleod (UK), The Longest Ride - The Red Bulletin
Steve Menary (UK), China vs. Taiwan: The battle for global influence through stadium diplomacy - Play The Game
Emma Smith (UK), Paralysed by an ex-boyfriend, Otto rises as Paralympian - BBC Sport
Sophie Williams (UK), Chinese Super League: From bidding for Bale to selling the team bus - BBC News
Jeremy Wilson (UK), Seb Coe exclusive: I scattered dad's ashes where I won gold in 1984 - The Telegraph
Amy Woodyatt (UK), They played for their country in their 20s. By their 40s, they had early onset dementia after playing this physical sport - CNN Sport
Sergei Karaß (Ukraine), Mykola Kushnaryov: The volleyball player from Chernihiv in Russian captivity - Website der Stadt Tschernigow 0462.ua
Alan Abrahamson (USA), The bus breaks down. A guy from Belarus is on it, on the way to race a rowing final. What to do? - 3 Wire Sports
Holly Yu Tung Chen (USA), One Leg to Climb On: the story of Sarah Doherty, the First Amputee to Stand Atop Denali - Height of Lands: Alpinist
Paul Fein (USA), "Are You Not Entertained!" - Sportstar
David Gardner (USA), On N.B.A. Player Podcasts, There’s the Star and Then the Other Guy - The New York Times
Stephanie Kaloi (USA), The long road to make the US a force in men’s gymnastics - The Guardian
Jonathan W. Rosen (USA), Running on air - MIT Technology Review
The longlist represents the first judging stage and is based on the average ratings of the AIPS panel of specialists, the Executive Committee members and the members of the Jury.
Find out more about the judging stages HERE.
Participants with two submissions in the longlist can find both listed side by side. Below are the selected works, in alphabetical order of country:
Disclaimer: All names and information have been published as we have received them, for any corrections please contact us at info@aipsmedia.com or send us a direct message on social media @aipsmedia.
WRITING BEST COLOUR PIECE
Saeedullah Safi (Afghanistan), The cycling sisters defying the Taliban to compete in the Paris Olympics - The Afghan Times
Pablo Amalfitano (Argentina), Paula Ormaechea, la angustia detrás del deporte: "Me subía a un avión y pensaba: si se cae está todo - Página/12
Lucio Ortiz (Argentina), From the ring to exile: An unbreakable friendship between Pascualito and Perón - Diario Mendoza
Sebastian Torok (Argentina), Novak Djokovic, the man and the legend: “What makes me fragile?” - Diario La Nacion de Argentina
Jeremy Story Carter (Australia), She Can Play - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Julian Linden (Australia), Short Notice - News Corp (Australia)
Shishir Hoque (Bangladesh), Like a revolt near distant border - Dhaka Tribune
Philippe Vande Weyer (Belgium), Dix Jeux olympiques, quelle tranche de vie! - Le Soir
Camila Alves (Brazil), "My coach tried to kiss me": unprecedented survey reveals cases of harassment in women's football - Globo
Sebastián Varela (Chile), Seven years after the tragedy, the United Cup as an opportunity for Chile’s Daniela Seguel – CLAY
Wufei Yu (China), The Sudden Death of a 17-Year-Old Chinese Rising Badminton Star - Sanlian Lifeweek Magazine
Yu Zhao (China), The Anger, Disappointment, and Perseverance of a Chinese Super League Club Investor. - lanxiong sports
Ángel Miguel Pérez Martínez (Colombia), The world champion who defeated more than 7 demons - Korraleja
Ondrej Trunecka (Czech Republic), 200 million trick and other questionable steps of the Czech hockey association - iDNES.cz
Sebastian Mikkelsen (Denmark), Emma Lund: How Para-Cycling helped Danish World Champion overcome bullying and depression - Olympics.com
Ahmed Aboelnasr (Egypt) "Fake muscle steroids" A Business That Kills Youngsters... Palm Oil, Sesame, Chicken and Pig Hormones - Elwatan newspapers
Louis Boulay (France), Park Si-Hun : “My life would have been better with the silver medal” - L'Equipe
Antoine Bourlon (France), Ohtani, le nouvel empereur - L'Équipe
Romain Donneux (France), Kenya, long-distance race against doping - L'Equipe
Quentin Moynet (France)*, "Dias Beach is a dangerous one" | Roumane, the fall of a little ace - L'Equipe
Christine Thomas (France), Everest, the death waterfall - L'equipe Explore
Tengiz Pachkoria (Georgia), 16-year-old Ejibia and “Tottenham Hotspur” football players - Mediagroup "Gruzia-Online"
Bassel Alhamdo (Germany), Syria’s Youth Soccer Teams Were the Pride of the Nation — But Dozens of Players Were Too Old To Compete - OCCRP and SIRAJ
Lars Spannagel (Germany), Sie kann im Wasser fliegen (She can fly in the water) - ZEIT Online
Simon Asare (Ghana), Saving the game: A clarion call for sports associations to sign onto UN's Sports for Climate Action - Ghana News Agency
Zoltán Balogh (Hungary), The silence of cowardice - judoinfo.hu
Péter Csillag (Hungary), Unknown football history: face to face with the enemy in the bloody summer of 1919 - Nemzeti Sport
Annesha Ghosh (India), You’ll Never Walk Alone - Vogue India
Sanket Jain (India), How an Indian farmer uses sports to save girls from early marriage – Devex
Suvam Pal (India), Exclusive: Taiwan Olympic Legend Finds Her Life Story In Aamir Khan's 'Dangal' - NDTV.com
James Corbett (Ireland), Two years on: How the business of Ukrainian football survived Russia’s invasion - Off The Pitch
Neil O'Riordan (Ireland)*, United Translations | Viva Palestina - Irish Sun
Mark Gallagher (Ireland), 'One way we can keep fighting is to keep playing - without football, we can show everyone we are still here as a people - Irish Daily Mail
Itay Goder (Israel)*, "I give you my word: nothing will happen to you here" | Der Schiedsrichter - Der Spiegel | Frankfurter Allgemeine
Federica Cocchi (Italy), Tathiana Garbin, the brave Italian tennis captain and the most important match of her life - La Gazzetta dello Sport
Maria Luisa Colledani (Italy), After escaping Colombia, fencing and Italy welcomed me - Il Sole 24 Ore
Marco Consoli (Italy), I trained the worst team in the world - Il Venerdì di Repubblica
Gabriele Gargantini (Italy)*, Paris Olympics '24, but of the twentieth century | Run 6.7 kilometers per hour, every hour, until you are the only one doing it - Il Post
Francesco Gottardi (Italy), The lagoon life of a football doge. Joel Pohjanpalo’s way - Il Foglio
Elias Makori (Kenya), South Sudan's Olympic basketball stars' Kenyan ties - Nation Media Group
Celestine Karoney (Kenya), I saw athlete on fire running towards me after attack, neighbour tells BBC - BBC
Jonathan Collazo (Mexico), The ghost VIP box: a business at the heart of the Mexican Grand Prix - Mediotiempo.com
Eduardo Enrique López Navarrete (Mexico)*, The Olympic weightlifter who left the circus and challenged the Cuban regime | Adriana Ruano, the gymnast who won gold with a rifle - Diario AS
Pepijn Keppel (Netherlands), “War minus the shooting” - De Groene Amsterdammer
Morakinyo Abodunrin (Nigeria), Victor Osimhen: From Lagos slum to Napoli sensation: Amazing rise of Africa’s soccer king – The Nation
Abiodun Adewale (Nigeria), Olusosun: Defying the odds, Lagos slum rises above filth, produces Africa’s football king - Punch Newspaper
Bethel Kalu (Nigeria), The Roar of Victory: Onyinyechi's Journey to Paralympic Gold and World Record - Igulafrica.com
Ida-marie Vatn (Norway), The coach and the policeman - TV 2
Magnus Wikan (Norway), The Last Days of Winter Sports - TV 2
Anushe Engineer (Pakistan), It’s all or nothing for Arshad Nadeem in Paris - Dawn Media Group
Fadi Hijazi (Palestine), Striker Barakat.. He wore the "martyrdom shirt" to score his retirement goal against the occupation - Shehab News Agency
Claudya Carolina Morales Meléndez (Panama), El duro camino a los Juegos Olímpicos: El sueño de Héctor que no pudo ser - TVN MEDIA, Televisora Nacional
Jose Encarnacion (Puerto Rico), “Confidential” report reveals theft of $2.4 million bet at the Camarero Racetrack - Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
Theodor Jumatate (Romania), “We fight” - GOLAZO.ro
Evgenii Sliusarenko (Russia), Why did the legendary champion change his surname? Let's continue to correct Olympic history - Sovsport.ru
Jaka Lopatic (Slovenia), Memories of Sarajevo '84 - TSmedia d.o.o.o (www.siol.net)
Firdose Moonda (South Africa), Extremely loud and incredibly vile: how social media abuse wrecks cricketers - ESPN
Miguel Angel Lara Adán (Spain)*, The first Eurocup without Queen Elizabeth | "Yo viví la Batalla de Belgrado" – Marca
José Ignacio Pérez Hernández (Spain),* I boxed in Mauthausen | The priest of padel – Marca
Javier Sánchez Ramos (Spain), Sylvie Fréchette, the Olympic champion in Barcelona 1992 who does not remember it: "My fiancé committed suicide and my mind protected me." - El Mundo
José Ignacio Martínez Rodríguez (Spain), Rugby to tackle prejudice - La Marea
David Ruiz de la Torre (Spain), Football lacks street skills: has the 21st century killed the geniuses of dribbling? – Marca
Laurent Favre (Switzerland), Le compte rendu de match, mort annoncée d’une chronique du récit sportif (The match report, death - Le Temps
Patrick Oberli (Switzerland), Marco Müller, soccer hopeful turned legendary bank robber - Le Matin Dimanche
Riath Al-Samarrai (UK), Bored of life without medals, tortured by his past, now facing bankruptcy: how Bradley Wiggins fell - Daily Mail
Jamie Barton (UK) - Rumble in the Jungle: The fight that defined a decade, 50 years on – CNN
Natalie Berry (UK), ‘The world didn’t care enough’: Ukrainian climber’s journey from Crimea to Olympic chance - The Guardian
Andrew Binner (UK), Once a fighter, always a fighter: Refugee wrestler Jamal Valizadeh's inspiring journey to the Olympic Games - Olympics.com
Oliver Brown (UK), 'My grandfather was berated for embracing Jesse Owens in Berlin' - The Daily Telegraph
Jason Burt (UK)*, My week in Saudi to discover the truth about disruptor league |‘The inmates have been running the jail’ – Deeney’s fight to save bottom club - The Telegraph
Alex Bysouth (UK)*, War, exile, hope - how Shakhtar continue to overcome adversity | Inaki and Nico Williams: Two brothers, one club and a 40-year wait - BBC Sport
Gareth A Davies (UK), George Foreman Exclusive interview ‘Defeat by Ali hurt so much, I fought five men in one night to prove my strength – Telegraph
Denis Devlin (UK), Sports Governing Bodies Remain Silent As Israel Continues To Systematically Eradicate Sporting Venue - Pro Sport Media Group
Piers Edwards (UK), The African footballers putting their hearts on the line - BBC
Jo Gunston (UK)*, Shark attack survivor and surfer Mike Coots: 'The ocean has given me much more than it's taken away' | Tim Peake on the oddities of running a marathon in space - Olympics.com
Jon Holmes (UK), How the Olympics became the queerest sporting event in the world - Outsports
Adam Leventhal (UK), Christian Atsu - one year on from the search to find him. Through the eyes of those closest to him.- The Athletic
Mark Lomas (UK)*, How Chilean football club Deportivo Palestino captured the hearts of the Arab world | Next Gen: Speed sisters - F1 Academy - Esquire Middle East | The Red Bulletin
Andy Mcgrath (UK)- A tale of two races - Cyclist Magazine
Ruth Mcleod (UK), The Longest Ride - The Red Bulletin
Steve Menary (UK), China vs. Taiwan: The battle for global influence through stadium diplomacy - Play The Game
Emma Smith (UK), Paralysed by an ex-boyfriend, Otto rises as Paralympian - BBC Sport
Sophie Williams (UK), Chinese Super League: From bidding for Bale to selling the team bus - BBC News
Jeremy Wilson (UK), Seb Coe exclusive: I scattered dad's ashes where I won gold in 1984 - The Telegraph
Amy Woodyatt (UK), They played for their country in their 20s. By their 40s, they had early onset dementia after playing this physical sport - CNN Sport
Sergei Karaß (Ukraine), Mykola Kushnaryov: The volleyball player from Chernihiv in Russian captivity - Website der Stadt Tschernigow 0462.ua
Alan Abrahamson (USA), The bus breaks down. A guy from Belarus is on it, on the way to race a rowing final. What to do? - 3 Wire Sports
Holly Yu Tung Chen (USA), One Leg to Climb On: the story of Sarah Doherty, the First Amputee to Stand Atop Denali - Height of Lands: Alpinist
Paul Fein (USA), "Are You Not Entertained!" - Sportstar
David Gardner (USA), On N.B.A. Player Podcasts, There’s the Star and Then the Other Guy - The New York Times
Stephanie Kaloi (USA), The long road to make the US a force in men’s gymnastics - The Guardian
Jonathan W. Rosen (USA), Running on air - MIT Technology Review
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