The FINA President Dr Julio C. Maglione was in Lausanne (SUI) on January 21, 2019 for the first edition of the AIPS (International Sports Press Association) Sport Media Awards. The initiative rewarded the best journalistic works in several categories: Photography (Sports Action), Photography (Portfolio), Video (Athlete Profile), Video (Documentary), Writing (Best Colour Piece), Writing (Best Column), Audio, and Journalistic Weblog.
Aquatics, and in particular the coverage of the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest (HUN), was honoured in the category “Photography Portfolio”, with experienced photographer Adam Pretty, from Getty Images, receiving the winning award from the FINA President. Still in this category, the third place went to Patrick Kraemer (EPA/Keystone), also with a beautiful selection of pictures from the aquatic sports.
The FINA President was on stage to give the winning award to Adam Pretty, from Getty Images
Invited by the AIPS President Gianni Merlo to address some words to the attendees, IOC President Thomas Bach highlighted the importance of sports journalism in enhancing the visibility of the Olympic celebration. Mr Bach also paid a vibrant tribute to Ghanaian investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale, recently assassinated after reporting on corruption in African football. “The IOC was very sad to hear of the loss of Hussein-Suale, being murdered for exercising his profession”, admitted the IOC President.
Almost 1300 submissions from 119 countries were proposed to this first edition of the AIPS Sport Media Awards. The AIPS Jury and a group of top sport journalists in the world then cut down this number to 24, three per each of the above-mentioned categories.
IOC President Thomas Bach and AIPS President Gianni Merlo