Hi, Totallympics' members! Welcome to the Totallympics Awards, a celebration of the year in sports. Once again, we invite you to take part in the voting process that will elect the best in sports from 2024 in several categories. In the third edition of the awards, we hope to count with voters from as many nations as possible. If you want to participate, please follow the instructions here. In this thread, you are allowed to make comments and suggestions regarding your personal preferences. Below, we explain the categories and voting process in detail.
Categories
Best Male Athlete
Best Female Athlete
Best Non-Olympic Athlete
Best Paralympic Athlete
Best Youth Athlete
Best Men's Team
Best Women's Team
Best Doubles/Pair or Mixed Team
Breakthrough of the Year
Comeback of the Year
Sport Moment of the Year
Olympic Spirit Award
Special Awards
Totallympics' Stars Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
The 2024 Awards will consist of 12 categories (each with 6 nominees) and two special awards. The top categories are Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete, in which voters will recognize the best athletes of the year in Olympic sports only (Summer or Winter). Such restriction applies only to these categories.
Athletes who participate in sports that are not part of the Olympic Games or who are most prominent in disciplines that are not included in the Olympic programme will compete for the Non-Olympic Athlete award, a category that combines male and female athletes. The Best Paralympic Athlete category will acknowledge the outstanding athletes with a disability that highlighted the Paralympic movement in 2024.
Younger athletes will be up for Best Youth Athlete, a category for talents up to 18 years old – to be eligible, an athlete must have been born after 1 January 2006. The Breakthrough of the Year is a category for the most improved athlete/team of the year and applies for athletes aged 19 or over – athletes or teams previously nominated for this award are not eligible this time.
Although athletes from team sports can be nominated for all individual awards, they will also be in the running for two other categories: Best Men's Team and Best Women's Team. As the name suggests, national teams or groups can be nominated, in both Olympic and Non-Olympic sports, Paralympic sports included. Sportspeople competing in 2-athlete events or mixed events will be up for Best Doubles/Pair or Mixed Team award.
The Comeback of the Year award will honour the athletes or teams who made a comeback performance in 2024, while the Sport Moment of the Year will bring moments that thrilled us this year. The Olympic Spirit Award is a category for people related to the 2024 Summer Olympics or Paralympics and will be given to the individuals who exemplify the spirit of sportsmanship in the Games or showed great determination in overcoming obstacles. As for the special categories, the Totallympics' Stars award will celebrate members of our forum, while the Lifetime Achievement will recognize retired sport personalities that have made a contribution to sports world.
Voting System
FIRST STAGE OF VOTING
The first stage of voting will happen from Friday, December 20th to Monday, January 6th. Voters will choose, in order of preference, a minimum of 3 athletes or teams and a maximum of 6 for each category in which they decide to vote. With the exception of Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete (votes are required for both), voters can decide whether to vote in other categories or not. Voters are also allowed to choose athletes and teams from their own nation, however, out of the 6 possible choices, voters can only vote for one (1) athlete or team from their own nation per category.
In each category, votes (in order of preference) will be converted into points, following the system explained below:
After the points are counted, the top 6 with most points in each category will advance for the second stage. A tiebreaker will be used when there's a tie in points for the 6th spot, prevailing the total number of votes, and then the number of #1 votes. If the tie persists, a random draw will be conducted to determine the final nominee. The list of nominees for the Totallympics Awards will be announced on Monday, January 6th, 2025.
SECOND STAGE OF VOTING
The second stage of voting will happen from Tuesday, January 7th to Saturday, January 18th. Here, voters will rank a maximum of 3 favourite nominees in each category, but they also can make a single choice per category. With the exception of Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete, for which voting is required in order to participate, members can vote in any categories they want. Just like in the first stage, votes will be converted into points, this time in a slightly different way, as can be seen below:
After the voting process ends, the nominees with the most points in each category will be the winners of 2024 Totallympics Awards. As in the first stage, a tiebreaker is necessary when two or more nominees obtain the same number of points, prevailing the total number of votes, and then the number of #1 votes. If the tie persists, results of first stage will be considered. Along with the Totallympics' Stars and Lifetime Achievement awards, all winners will be announced in a live ceremony Sunday, January 19th, which will bring together Totallympics members in a celebration of the year in sports.