The International Judo Federation (IJF) has presented the nominees for the "Judoka of the Year" award in a special video.
Among the nominees are our Olympic champions Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelym Kotsoiev (100 kg), Idman.biz reports.
In addition to the Azerbaijani judokas, the list includes five other Olympic gold medalists: Hifumi Abe and Takanori Nagase (both from Japan), Teddy Riner (France), Lasha Bekauri (Georgia), and Eldos Smetov (Kazakhstan).
The voting will end on January 10 next year.
This year, Heydarov and Kotsoiev have not only earned Olympic golds but also claimed world champion titles. Additionally, Hidayat has become a four-time European champion in his career.
Idman.biz
