The Estonian

Athlete of the Year Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition. Definition of "athlete" *In many nations, an "athlete" primarily refers to someone who participat ...

( et, Eesti Aasta Sportlane) is an annual award presented by the

Estonian Olympic Committee The Estonian Olympic Committee ( et, Eesti Olümpiakomitee) (EOK) is responsible for the Estonia's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Estonian Sports Federation ( et, Eesti Spordi Liit) decided to form the Estonian Olympic Committe ...

(''Eesti Olümpiakomitee'', EOK) to one male and one female sportsperson judged to have delivered the best performance over the course of the year. The winners of the award, which was first conceived in the 1930s and has been presented every year since 1955, are chosen by an aggregated vote from sporting journalists, national sporting federations, and the public at large. Initially an accolade presented to one individual, the award was split into male and female categories beginning in 1967. In 2020 the two categories were merged due to the disruption caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

to the international and national sporting calendars. The athlete with the most wins is cyclist

Erika Salumäe Erika Salumäe (born 11 June 1962) is an Estonian track bicycle racer who won the first Olympic gold medal for Estonia after the country regained independence in 1991. Salumäe was born in Pärnu, Estonia. She trained at VSS Kalev in Tallinn ...

, who has won the award on nine occasions.

List of award winners

Cyclist

has won Athlete of the Year more than any other athlete, male or female, with nine wins between 1983 and 1996. Skier

Kristina Šmigun-Vähi Kristina Šmigun-Vähi (born 23 February 1977) is a former Estonian female cross-country skier and politician. She is the most successful Estonian female cross-country skier with two Olympic gold medals. In 2019 she was elected as a Member of th ...

is the second-most decorated winner, having been chosen as Female Athlete of the Year on eight occasions. Of male athletes, the most successful are weightlifter

Jaan Talts Jaan Talts (born 19 May 1944) is a former Estonian weightlifter. He competed for the Soviet Union at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively. Throughout his career, Talts won two world and four European titles ...

, cyclist Aavo Pikkuus, and skier Andrus Veerpalu, each with five wins. Pikkuus holds the record for the most consecutive awards won, achieving his five successively between 1974 and 1978. The youngest ever Athlete of the Year recipient is swimmer Kaire Indrikson who won in 1977 at the age of sixteen, while Aavo Pikkuus is the youngest male winner on record, achieving the first of his five wins in 1974 at the age of twenty. With a combined age of 39 years at the time of the 1977 awards, Indrikson and Pikkuus additionally constitute the youngest pair of winners from a single year. Chess player

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

is the oldest person to be recognised as Athlete of the Year, winning his third award in 1962 at the age of 46. The oldest woman to win is fencer Heidi Rohi, who in 2001 was awarded Athlete of the Year at the age of 35. Keres also holds the record for the longest span of time over his awards, his third in 1962 coming 26 years after his first award in 1937. In awards presented solely after the Second World War, this distinction is held among male athletes by rower

Jüri Jaanson Jüri Jaanson (born 14 October 1965) is the most successful Estonian rower of all time and the winner of five medals at World Rowing Championships. He became World Champion in Tasmania 1990 in the single sculls event. 14 years later, at age 3 ...

, who won the award three times over fifteen years (1990–2004), and among female athletes by Erika Salumäe and Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, who each won their awards over fourteen-year periods (1983–1996 and 1997–2010 respectively). Three members of the same family have each won Athlete of the Year: Ulvi Voog-Indrikson in 1957, her daughter Kaire Indrikson in 1977, and her granddaughter

Triin Aljand Triin Aljand (born 8 July 1985) is a retired Estonian swimmer who won a silver medal at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships in 50 m butterfly. She competed in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle and 100 b ...

in 2011 and 2012.