LAUSANNE: International sports journalists association AIPS has revealed the longlist in the 2023 Sport Media Awards 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. Here 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

Salma Niazi (Afghanistan), Salma Niazi: A beacon of resilience and hope for Afghan women – The Afghan Times

Andres Burgo (Argentina), The cup that Messi lifts in the most iconic photo of the Qatar World Cup is fake – El País

Sebastian Fest (Argentina), Guillermo Vilas’s obsession with being recognised as the best tennis player in the world in 1977 – Vanity Fair

Julián Marcel (Argentina), Rise and decline of the boxer sponsored by Bilardo – Torneos

Sebastian Torok (Argentina), Yannick Noah. Acrobatic, artistic, charismatic and winner, the last French male champion of Roland Garros – Diario La Nacion de Argentina

Alejandro Wall (Argentina), Mundial Messi, un héroe para la posteridad – Tiempo Argentino

Samantha Lewis (Australia), The France game: Matildas’ World Cup quarterfinal win was a moment that stopped the nation – Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Julian Linden (Australia), One Last Time – The Saturday Telegraph

David Mark (Australia), “After almost 30 years, these women are finally seeing justice”: The investigation into serial paedo – ABC

Amanda Shalala (Australia), Football in their DNA – ABC Sport

Jeremy Story Carter (Australia), Kick in hope – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Olaf Brockmann (Austria), The Transcontinental Coach: Juan Carlos Zabala and his forgotten Master – Journal of Olympic History

Martin Schauhuber (Austria), “Who likes Bollywood dancing?”: How the workers of Doha experience the World Cup – Der Standard

Silvana Strieder (Austria), Third break in the air raid shelter – Kurier

Shishir Hoque (Bangladesh), A promise not kept in 32 years – Dhaka Tribune

Camila Alves (Brazil), Mothers of the World Cup: how the tournament advances maternity rights in football – Grupo Globo

Tébaro Schmidt Bechtlufft (Brazil), We’ve took a ride with a Libertadores champion – Globo

Devin Heroux (Canada), The McIntosh sisters lean on family to reach their Olympic-sized dreams | Marco Arop’s Olympic dream takes shape in the heart of Dixie – CBC

Dustin Patar (Canada), Qimuksiq – Canadian Geographic

Cesar Campos (Chile), Tatán Luchsinger: “No me da vergüenza contar que ahora trabajo como recolector de basura” – Diario Las Últimas Noticias

Antonio Valencia (Chile), Wagner Salinas, el trágico final del boxeador escolta de Salvador Allende – Diario El Mercurio

Peng Gao (China), A son helps his late father complete a 100-marathon dream – Xinhua News Agency, China

Xingying Tao (China), (Exclusive) From street to Olympics, how X-Rain transforms into a Chinese breaking pioneer? – Xinmin Evening News

Wufei Yu (China), A Soccer Experiment in China’s Rural Mountainous West – Zmconnect

Zhao Yu (China), Ma Baoguo: a Fake Kongfu Master – Lanxiong Sports

Reda Selim (Egypt), Muscle Mania… between facts and fiction! – Alittihad newspaper

Olivier Bossard (France), On a retrouvé Jean-François Hernandez – France Football

Jean-Michel Brochen (France), Bobby Charlton, an immense reign – L’Equipe Le Magazine

Quentin Moynet (France), Les galériens du tennis / Welcome to the jungle – L’Equipe

Quentin Raverdy (France), Les fantômes du Mezzogiorno – Raffut magazine

Alban Traquet (France), A la recherche de Christian Atsu – L’Equipe

Jana Gioia Baurmann (Germany), Legionnaires for the fifth league – Zeit Online

Ronny Blaschke (Germany), The whole of India is eagerly awaiting the Cricket World Cup – NZZ

Matthias Fiedler (Germany), The survivors – Der Spiegel

Patrick Kleinmann (Germany), After the Big Bang – Kicker

Fiifi Anaman (Ghana), Your Legacy Lives On – Medium

Emmanuel Ayamga (Ghana), The rise of Mohammed Kudus, pride of Nima and Ghana’s golden boy – Pulse Ghana

Kwame Boakye (Ghana), Dream-Believe-Achieve: The story of Kofi Kyereh – Pulse

Andrew Mcnicol (Hong Kong), This North Korean player stunned the soccer world – then disappeared | Xi Jinping wanted China to be a global soccer power. What went wrong? – CNN

Attila Szalay (Hungary), Down here, football is not just a game, it can save lives – Magyar Nemzet

Shail Desai (India), From India, Through Belgium, to World Cup Gold: One Climber’s Journey to the Top of Paraclimbing – Climbing.com

Sanket Jain (India), How climate change is ending the sporting dreams of India’s young – Telegraph

Manuja Veerappa (India), Stripped of her Asian Games medal and banned from competing, Santhi Soundarajan is now pushing ahead – The Times of India

Mahdi Beshkani (Iran), Against censorship! – Hichomiha.blogfa.com

Saeedeh Fathabadi (Iran), جایی که دیگر ایران نبود؛ ملاقات روزنامه‌نگار زندانی با ورزشکار پناهنده – Iranwire

Masumeh Moumivand (Iran), Iranian motorcycle girls jumping over stereotypes – Isna

Malachy Clerkin (Ireland), The Life And Death Of Red Óg Murphy – The irish Times

Mark Gallagher (Ireland), Baby Steps – Irish Daily Mail/Irish Mail on Sunday

Itay Goder (Israel), Asher Iyasu, Champion | I had no choice – McKellar magazine | Frankfurter Allgemeine

Pierbattista Bergonzi (Italy), Roberto Baggio interview – La Gazzetta dello Sport

Alberto Dolfin (Italy), Ukraine and Russia, frost on the piste but confrontation without masks – Corriere dello Sport

Alessandro Poggi (Italy), Manuel Bortuzzo: Olympic hopeful on overcoming fateful shooting to continue chasing dream as a Para – Olympic Channel

Aigerim Konurbaeva (Kyrgyzstan), Fighting for recognition. How women in Central Asia are making their way into the martial arts – Cabar.Asia

Bassem Raouas (Lebanon), Yemenis at Asian Games divided by war, united by sport – AFP

Eduardo López Navarrete (Mexico), Sunrise in Ukraine – Diario AS

Nathaniel Parish Flannery (Mexico), The Trials of Time: Marlen Reusser Profile – Cyclist magazine

Aissa El Gamhi (Morocco), Mothers and fathers of the Atlas Lions tell details of the joy of achievement and their relationship with their children – Al Sabah Newspaper

Idris Shehu (Nigeria), Olusosun: Inside Lagos slum where Victor Osimhen was raised – Cable Newspaper

Anders Christiansen (Norway), The war over the Olympics – Verdens Gang

Yahya Al-Yaqoubi (Palestine), In pictures, Youssef Abu Amira… without his four limbs, he defied the “karate” law. – Palestine Newspaper

Piotr Przyborowski (Poland), He was an internet meme fan, but became the president of his beloved club. He has already made history – Meczyki.pl, Warta Poznań

Jose Encarnacion (Puerto Rico), La otra recta final de los caballos en el Hipódromo Camarero – Centro de Periodismo Investigativo

Pavel Lysenkov (Russia), “Dad, I see my dreams. And in them, there is ice, and I am playing hockey”. This is how Rodion Amir – Match TV

Aissatou Diene (Senegal), Senegal: The mystical gangrenous practice of local football – Challengesports.info

Stefan Kosanović (Serbia), Sports psychologist Sasa Sredanovic falsely presents herself to the public – Seecheck

Daniel Gallan (South Africa), Gambling addiction: Why elite sportspeople are especially vulnerable – BBC

Manuel Calabuig Garcia (Spain), The race against ALS – Corredor

Santiago Castañeda Heredia (Spain), La última frontera del dron deportivo – Diario AS | AS Televisión

José Ignacio Pérez Hernández (Spain), The murderous ‘sport’ in Auschwitz: “It was the first step towards extermination” – Marca

Nahed Albageir (Sudan), Murder and abuses against Her Majesty’s court – Alsudaninews

Mohamed Osman Adam (Sudan), Sudan conflict: Impact of war on journalists and media professionals – Sudan News agency/Panafrican News Agency

Laurent Favre (Switzerland), We found Mark Kangogo, the doping winner of Sierre-Zinal – Le Temps

Christof Gertsch (Switzerland), The Merman – Das Magazin

Mohamed Rami Abdelmoula (Tunisia), In Tunisia: Power and the Public Contend over the Football Field – Assafir Al-Arabi

Fred Mwambu (Uganda), The game that cannot be trusted: the Mbale Heroes-Admin Saga – Daily Monitor

Kateryna Makarevska (Ukraine), “I want to live!” Invictus Games athlete Volodymyr Tovkys survived after being shot in the head and found hope in sports – Suspilne Media

Natalie Berry (UK), Mountain man: the miraculous life of Reinhold Messner, the world’s most controversial climber – UKClimbing.com

Andrew Binner (UK), Jennifer Lozano: The Texas “troublemaker” inspiring women to chase their dreams – Olympics.com

Oliver Brown (UK), Eternal Pele communes with his disciples in final farewell – The Daily Telegraph

Jason Burt (UK), Erling Haaland exclusive interview: It is more shocking to people when I do not score | How south coast club became the talk of the elite – The Telegraph

Alex Bysouth (UK), Naples: A city on the brink as Napoli close in on first title in 33 years – BBC Sport

Ben Church (UK), ‘I was scared about my family:’ Why two Ukrainian footballers keep playing despite Russia’s invasion – CNN

Will Coldwell (UK), Inside the wild ‘Man vs Horse’ race that made a small Welsh town legend – Financial Times

Andrew Downie (UK), Pele was no Muhammad Ali, but critics of his stance on racism are misguided – The Times

Piers Edwards (UK), Salif Keita: How Mali’s ‘Black Panther’ became a pioneering icon – BBC

Matias Grez (UK), Bob Marley instilled a love of soccer in his daughter, Cedella. Now she’s changing the lives of women – CNN

Jo Gunston (UK), Hannah Snellgrove – folk singer, Cambridge graduate and Paris 2024 sailing hopeful talks to Olympics – Olympics.com

William Imbo (UK), Edy Tavares: The Giant of Cape Verde poised to make history at the 2023 FIBA World Cup – Olympics.com

Aimee Lewis (UK), Wrexham: An intoxicating tale of Hollywood glamor and sporting romance – CNN

Mark Lomas (UK), Tunisian Tennis Player Ons Jabeur: “It’s Important That Arabs Show Each Other That We Can Make It” | Becoming Unstoppable: Aaliyah Powell – Vogue Arabia | Red Bulletin Magazine

James Montague (UK), A Spanish Team Endures on a Toehold in Africa – The New York Times

Jack Murley (UK), Josh Cavallo: I try to turn death threats into a positive – BBC

George Ramsay (UK), How a world champion triathlete earned an Oscar nomination – CNN

Issy Ronald (UK), How Nikki Hiltz is making running more inclusive for LGBTQ people – CNN

Kate Rowan (UK), First she was sectioned, then put in a coma, now Abi Burton is aiming for Paris Olympics – Telegraph Media Group

Hannah Ryan (UK), Women’s World Cup 2023: Some of the game’s top players are absent. And it’s because of the same injury issue – CNN

Matt Warwick (UK), ‘African King’ Biniam Girmay is leading a revolution in cycling – BBC

Sophie Williams (UK), Six sporting lives lost – ‘We will not forgive, or forget’ – BBC News

Jeremy Wilson (UK), The real Bobby and Jack Charlton – by their younger brother Tom – The Telegraph

Suzanne Wrack (UK), Holding gymnastics to account – why one alleged victim of sexual abuse is speaking out – The Guardian

Scott Bregman (USA), Simone Biles on letting go, twisting again, and having no regrets: ‘What success means to me is diff – Olympics.com

David Gardner (USA), Gunshots shattered her hoop dreams. Now she wants them back. – Washington Post

Cory Mull (USA), Noor’s Pursuit: A Young Muslim Woman’s Fight For Equality – FloSports

Brian Pinelli (USA), An Italian Cowboy: The Remarkable Story of 1960 Olympian Battista “Tita” Pordon – Ski Racing Media

Abdulaziz Hadi (Yemen), Osama Al-Asadi, rising star despite war and siege – almawqapost.net

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