In the VTsIOM poll, the second place was taken by the skier Alexander Bolshunov, the third – by the hockey player Alexander Ovechkin
Photo: Kirill Kukhmar / TASS
The Beijing Olympic champion in the team tournament, figure skater Kamila Valieva, became the athlete of the year according to the Russians. This is evidenced by the results of the VTsIOM survey, published on the organization’s website.
A meaningful answer to the question regarding the athletes of the past year was able to give a third of Russians (31%). Valiev was named by 7% of respondents. This is followed by skier Alexander Bolshunov (5%) and hockey player Alexander Ovechkin (4%). Figure skaters Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova each got 2%.
Thus, in the responses of Russians there is a certain bias in favor of figure skaters: a total of 14% named former and current champions in this sport.
As the responses of Russians in different years show, the probability of getting into the national rating depends on the achievements of athletes in major competitions. Five times, in 2006-2007 and 2012-2014, it was led by one of the most titled figure skaters in Russia, Evgeni Plushenko. In 2018 – Olympic figure skating champion Alina Zagitova (11%), two years later – UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (10%).
VTsIOM noted that the involvement of Russians in the sports agenda depends on their media preferences. A meaningful answer was more often given by active Internet users (33%) and those who prefer a hybrid model of media consumption (35%). In the group of active TV viewers, this share is 1.7 times lower (19%).
