I must admit it wasn't easy...
in some categories I had even too many names/events in mind that I found extremely difficult to choose only 6 (some times 7, thanks to a couple of ex-aequo)
meanwhile in a few other categories I had the opposite problem, had to dig deep to find 6 really good options
I also tried not to be so "obvious" when possible, but without being "extravagant"
however, this is my effort for this year...
BEST MALE ATHLETE
for sportsmen in Olympic sports
#1: Lèon Marchand (Swimming)
#2: Marco Odermatt (Alpine Skiing)
#3: Noah Lyles (Athletics)
#4: Johannes Thingnes Boe (Biathlon)
#5: Hifumi Abe (Judo)
#6: Karlos May Nasar (Weightlifting)
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE
for sportswomen in Olympic sports
#1: Molly O'Callaghan (Swimming)
#2: Faith Kipyegon (Athletics)
#3: Femke Bol (Athletics)
#4: Mikaela Shiffrin (Alpine Skiing)
#5: Rebeca Andrade (Artistic Gymnastics)
#6: Yui Susaki (Wrestling) & Uta Abe (Judo)
BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE
for athletes in Non-Olympic sports and disciplines
#1: Shohei Ohtani (Baseball)
#2: Christian McCaffrey (American Football)
#3: Naoya Inoue (Boxing)
#4: Islam Makhachev (MMA)
#5: Virat Kohli (Cricket)
#6: Bart Swings (Inline Speedskating)
BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE
for athletes with a disability
#1: Marcel Hug (Athletics)
#2: Simone Barlaam (Swimming)
#3: Jesper Pedersen (Alpine Skiing)
#4: Alexandre Lèautè (Cycling)
#5: Karen Palomeque (Athletics)
#6: Diede De Groot (Tennis)
BEST YOUTH ATHLETE
for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports)
#1: Connor Bedard (Ice Hockey)
#2: Summer McIntosh (Swimming)
#3: Darja Varfolomeev (Rhythmic Gymnastics)
#4: Qiu Qiyuan (Artistic Gymanstics)
#5: Luana Marton (Taekwondo)
#6: Maximilian Maeder (Sailing, Kitesurfing)
BEST MEN'S TEAM
for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports)
#1: Baseball NT
#2: Basketball NT
#3: Rugby (Union) NT
#4: Rugby (Union) NT
#5: Waterpolo NT
#6: Cricket NT
BEST WOMEN'S TEAM
for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports)
#1: Volleyball NT
#2: Swimming Freestyle Relays 4*100m & 4*200m
#3: Waterpolo NT
#4: Football NT
#5: Biathlon Relay 4*6km
#6: Handball NT
BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM
for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports)
#1: Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (Sailing, Nacra 17 Class)
#2: Ana Patrícia Ramos & Eduarda Lisboa (women's Beach Volleyball)
#3: Show Jumping Team (Equestrian Sports)
#4: Ondřej Perušič & David Schweiner (men's Beach Volleyball)
#5: Melvin Twellaar & Stef Broenink (Rowing)
#6: Toni Eggert & Sascha Benecken (Luge)
BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR
for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports)
#1: Qin Haiyang (Swimming)
#2: Akhmed Tazhudinov (Wrestling)
#3: Matt Temple (Swimming)
#4: Karoline Knotten & Juni Arnekleiv (Biathlon)
#5: Puck Pieterse (Mountain bike)
#6: Ilia Malinin (Figure Skating)
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports)
#1: Simone Biles (Artistic Gymnastics)
#2: Cameron McEvoy (Swimming)
#3: Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Athletics)
#4: Sha'carri Richardson (Athletics)
#5: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (Biathlon)
#6: Antonella Palmisano (Athletics)
SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR
for any sport moment from 2023
#1: Shohei Ohtani striking out (at that time) club teammate Mike Trout to close the men's Baseball WBC
#2: Glenn Maxwell scoring 201/not out to lead an amazing comeback by his team vs at the Cricket World Cup
#3: Team Europe winning the Ryder Cup in style (Golf)
#4: Femke Bol losing a Relay Gold already in the pocket after a dramatic fall just before the finish line at the World Champs (Athletics)
#5: Molly O'Callaghan breaking the women's oldest rubber suit World Record in Swimming (ITA icon Federica Pellegrini's women's 200m Freestyle)
#6: the 4 most important Baseball Leagues all having the most unexpected new champions in the same season (MLB, Texas Rangers, 1st title in history; NPB, Hanshin Tigers, 1st title in 38 years; KBO, LG Twins Seoul, 1st title in 29 years; CPBL, Wei Chuan Dragons, 1st title in 24 years)
[#7: Italy winning the Davis Cup (Tennis) after a 47-year drought, with Sinner's matches breaking all the TV viewership records] (personal bias I couldn't resist to)