The sporting ‘Oscar’ in the ‘Sportsman of the Year’ nomination went to a 2014 Olympic champion — freestyle acrobat Anton Kushnir

The sporting ‘Oscar’ in the ‘Sportsman of the Year’ nomination went to a 2014 Olympic champion — freestyle acrobat Anton Kushnir, while a three time Olympic champion — Darya Domracheva — was unsurprisingly named the ‘Sportswoman of the Year’. Sadly, Darya was unable to attend the awards ceremony and her mother, Larisa Minina, accepted the award. “I’m extremely happy for Dasha!” she said. “I’m still on a high from her victories in Sochi. As soon as Darya returns to Minsk after the World Championship in Finland and the final World Cup round in Russia, I’ll give her this award.”

In addition, awards went to those without whom all those achievements and successes would have been impossible. The freestyle team trainer, Nikolay Kozeko, was praised by both fans and the jury as the ‘Best Coach of the Year’. He thanked everyone, saying, “I’m grateful to all those who voted for me. My team and I were always close and I wouldn’t be here without them. I’m thankful for their great performance in Sochi. I always believed in Alla Tsuper and Anton Kushnir. They’ve done this!”

The women’s biathlon team was named the ‘Team of the Year’; Darya Domracheva, Nadezhda Pisareva, Nadezhda Skardino and Anastasia Duborezova expressed their gratitude in a live link from Ruhpolding.

Another four categories of nominations were judged comprising famous sportsmen and journalists. The ‘Will to Victory’ win went to a double bronze medal winner at Sochi’s Paralympic Games — Vasily Shapteboy, ‘The Highlight of the Year’ was received by Darya Domracheva, and ‘The Newcomer of the Year’ went to Alla Tsuper. The winner of the national team in the match against Latvia (to qualify for the quarter-finals) won ‘The Best Sporting Moment of the Year’ nomination. The public voting attracted around 1.5m fans.