The Swiss

Sports Personality 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 ...

was originally chosen annually from 1950 by the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

newspaper ''Sport''. As the newspaper was discontinued in the 1990s, the winners are now chosen by Swiss

journalists A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and TV viewers. Both groups' votes are equally weighted in determining the final result. In 2009

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...

had a large lead among voters working in the media, but viewers voted for

Didier Cuche Didier Cuche (born 16 August 1974) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. Career Born in Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel, he competed in the downhill and super-G, along with the giant slalom. He won the World Cup downhill and super-G ...

, giving him the award. Even Cuche was surprised and in his speech he apologized to Federer, saying "I hope he's not too angry." In 2005 spectators voted for

Thomas Lüthi Thomas Lüthi (born 6 September 1986) is a Swiss sporting director at Prüstel GP, and former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He spent 19 years in Grand Prix world championships, becoming one of only six riders to reach 300 race starts, spending m ...

while the media instead voted for Federer. Roger Federer has won this award a record seven times (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2017).

List of winners

References

{{Portal bar, Sport, Switzerland 1950 establishments in Switzerland Awards established in 1950 National sportsperson-of-the-year trophies and awards Sport in Switzerland Swiss awards