LAUSANNE: The AIPS Sport Media Awards, in their eighth edition, crowned the winners of the eight senior categories during a memorable night at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

The 2025 competition received 1,987 submissions from 130 countries, which, after five voting stages, were narrowed down into a longlist, shortlist and top 10 candidates, before reaching the three podium nominees, who discovered their final positions at the gala, following the last voting stage held inside FIFA headquarters in Zurich on the eve of the event.

“You are all winners, and with the high quality of our work, you’ve shown the way for the new generation, because good journalism will always prevail,” said AIPS president Gianni Merlo in his opening speech.

The evening started with a message of IOC president Kirsty Coventry: “It is a great pleasure to welcome you, what a great location, and what a great timing, after the Milano Cortina celebration of sports, a new kind of Winter Games. You, the sports journalists, helped to share that message around the world. This is why your Association matters so much. Your AIPS Media Awards are a great example of this, celebrating excellence in storytelling to the next generations,” she said.

The awards

The eight senior categories are split into Video, Photography, Audio and Writing. Here are the final positions of the 2025 podium nominees.

Video – Short Feature

Creativity and storytelling precision defined this category, with two former winners from Brazil and a first-time finalist from Canada.

Henrique Arcoverde (Brazil) secured first place with “Galeguinho – The Backwards Runner” (TV Globo).

Alison Mayer (Brazil) followed in second with “A Snapshot of Thrills” (TV Globo), while Lena Smirnova (Canada) finished third with “Ink on Blades: The making of an Olympic skate program” (Olympic Channel).

Video – Athlete Profile – A category that captures the essence of sporting personalities through narrative depth and visual storytelling.

Guillaume Priou and Laurie Delhostal (France) won with “Laure! Laure! Laure!” (Chengyu Prod/Canal+), a vibrant and intimate portrait of Laure Manaudou.

Marc Sauvourel (France) followed in second with “Samir Nasri, rebel” (Canal+), while Jürgen Schmidt, Laura Trust (Germany) placed third with “Being Franziska van Almsick” (ARD-Mediathek).

Video – Documentary Long-form storytelling once again proved its ability to combine sport with history and emotion.

Fabien Douillard (France) claimed first place with “Crash – Peloton Under Pressure” (L’Equipe), a fantastic recollection of stories around injuries and mental health preparation that cyclists need to undergo before going on a bike.

Marie Lasserre, Katrin Hafemann (Germany) finished second with “My Father, HSV and the Nazis” (NDR Fernsehen/ARD Mediathek), and Ian Brackley (United Kingdom) took third with “Tom Daley: 1.6 seconds”(Olympic Channel/Warner Bros. Discovery/Western Edge Pictures).

Photography – Sport Action Timing, instinct and impact defined the winning images.

Ray Giubilo (Italy) won with “It’s not Halloween” (tennisitaliano.it/Sportweek), the viral photo of Jasmine Paolini behind the racket.

Aaron Gillions (New Zealand) placed second with “Tupaea on fire” (Smartframe), and Valéry Hache (France) finished third with “Kick” (AFP), the dramatic moment when Donarumma got kicked in the face.

Audio A category that continues to grow in narrative ambition and depth.

The winners were Farzad Sabouri and Seyedeh Nahid Saadati (Iran) with “The Snowy Galaxy” (YouTube), a story that reflects difficulties women and women athletes face in Iran.

Ronny Blaschke (Germany) followed in second with “Tribunes of Terror – The Stadium under National Socialism”(Deutschlandfunk Kultur), while former winners Adam Leventhal, Abi Paterson (United Kingdom) came third with “The story of the Guinea stadium disaster” (The Athletic).

Photography – Portfolio Consistency and storytelling across a body of work were key for this category of up to five photos.

Loïc Venance (France) won with “Tour de France 2025” (AFP).

Joe Wakefield (Canada) placed second with “Mountain Bike Mastery” (Pinkbike), and Valéry Hache (France) finished third with “Dakar 2025” (AFP).

Young Reporters categories saw three winners that will receive a scholarship at a top sporting event.

In broadcasting (audio/video), the winner was Charlie Courrent (France), “Alexandre Müller: Rage in the Belly” (L’Equipe).

In photography, Eric Wu (Australia), second place last year, won with “In Sync” (World Athletics Media Academy, WCH Tokyo25 edition).

In writing, Salma Niazi (Afghanistan) was the winner with “You Will Not Grow Up in Silence: A Former Athlete Mother’s Fight for Freedom”(The Afghan Times).

All three winners will receive their trophies in their respective countries.

Investigative Awards

Four journalists received the special category award for Investigative Reporting, from AIPS president Gianni Merlo. Four winners from four different continents highlighted the global importance of accountability in sport. Baboucarr Fallaboweh (Gambia) was recognised for “Is Afriskaut Reviving or Risking Gambia’s Grassroots Football?” (The Alkamba Times). Bassel Alhamdo (Syria) was awarded for “Syrian Football Association Was Pressured to Hand Deal to Relative of Former President’s Brother” (OCCRP and SIRAJ). Adéla Paclíková (Czechia) earned recognition for “Who has the ball? and Go towards luck” (Czech TV). Pablo Vargas Zec (Chile) completed the group with “The investigation shakig Chilean basketball: the dark link between player-bettors and match-fixing” (En Cancha Prime). This was one of the most emotional moments of the ceremony, with heartfelt speeches underlining the difficulties of investigative reporting and why it is the core of our profession.

A Life in Sport

For the special award considering life achievements in journalism, the winner was Peter Frei, a highly-respected Swiss journalist who received the prize in Zurich.

Special Mentions

Another emotional part of the evening was dedicated to the Special Commendations, for those that might not have reached the final but whose work was highly regarded in the judging process and whose values align with AIPS core values. The special mentions were the following:

Fighting Against Racism And Discrimination – Jesús Martínez Fernández (Spain), “The Galactics of the Mina”(Frontera Digital).

Human Rights Special Commendation – Mohammed Alnakhala (Palestine), “In Gaza, Hope Always Rises from the Rubble” (beIN Sports).

Safeguarding For A Clean Sport – Pauline Tratz, Claus Hanischdörfer (Germany), “Success at all costs? Abuse in women’s gymnastics” (Südwestrundfunk – SWR/ARD).

Promoting Diversity And Inclusion – Stuart Pollitt (United Kingdom), “Unstoppable Determination” (Restless Films).

Freedom Of Press – Mohamed Osman Adam (Sudan), “A different type of mistreatment of a journalist held by militias in Sudan’s war” (The Pan-African News Agency – PANA).

Climate Change And Sustainable Sport – Abiodun Adewale (Nigeria), “Sports vs Plastic: The new global contest redefining waste recycling” (Punch).

Sport For Hope – Eryn Mathewson (United States of America), “Transplant Games: The Cyclist With a New Heart & Medal for Team USA” (CNN).

Special Report, Visual And Data Story – Ahmed Asar (Egypt), “I don’t see you… Village youth centers in Egypt are pushing athletes with disabilities to retire” (Masrawy).

Social Role Of Sports – José Luis Allegue Villares (Spain), “The mark left by the DANA” (Marca).

The Fight Against Doping – Geoffrey Anene (Kenya), “Culture of silence our biggest enemy, says Kenya’s anti-doping tsar Wahome” (Nation Media Group).

Insight On Sports Science – Matthias Fiedler (Germany), “The Enemy in my Head” (Der Spiegel).

Reporting On Assignment – Daniel Nilsson (Sweden), “Greenland: The shortest season” (Offside).

Photography Emotion – André Coelho (Brazil), “Botafogo Fans: Pride and Glory” (Agencia EFE).

Total Reportage – Jonathan W. Rosen (United States of America), “The curse of Kenyan long-distance runners” (1843 Magazine, The Economist).

Sport For The Next Generation – Yixing Dong (China), “Do androids dream of their own Olympics?” (Xinhua).

Raising Awareness On Mental Health – Panagiota Chalkia (Greece), “Molly Bartrip: Tackling anorexia and depression with her own voice” (Metrosport.gr).

Original Story – Marine Clerc (France), “Ksenia Chasteau – ‘Rebounds’” (Canal+).

Contributing To The Development Of Women In Sports – Andreia Figueiroa (Portugal), “The Giant of Nazaré” (Sport TV).

Remote Reporting – Bianca Roberts (Australia), “The Palestinian women’s football team is playing for ‘identity and resistance’” (ABC).

Historical Research – William Weinbaum (United States of America), “He Was A Legend” & “He was older than our fathers” – An oral history of Satchel Paige’s final game (ESPN / Andscape).

Outstanding Interview – Jim Nantz (United States of America), “The Legend of Bernhard Langer” (CBS Sports).

Retro Story Retold – András Killyéni (Romania), “A Polish Hero of Borșa” (Sport History Horizon).

Sport, Memory And Legacy – Bálint Kreisz, Miklós Szűcs (Hungary), “The day that changed the Olympic movement forever” (MTVA – Nemzeti Sportrádió).

Celebrating Sports History – Novella Calligaris (Italy), “Bubi Dennerlein, a sports legend and a teacher of life”(Progettarte).

The 88th AIPS Congress will follow in the next days, with delegates from a record number of 112 countries participating. Continental rankings with the top 10 by category and by region will be published in the AIPS Sport Media Awards and AIPS Media websites next week, when the announcement of the new edition opening dates will be made.

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