A jury of experts selected the six nominees for the choice of “Aargau Athlete of the Year 2021”. They are Michelle Heimberg (diving), Fabienne Kocher (judo), Matthias Kyburz (orienteering), Nora Meister (para swimming), Noel Ott (beach soccer) and the Tirinzoni team (curling).
In 2020 rower Scott Bärlocher won the title of “Aargau Sportsman of the Year”. There are now six candidates in the starting blocks to take over from Bärlocher. It is only for the second time since the “Aargau Athlete of the Year” election was launched in 2004 that the female athletes are in the majority among the nominees.
Michelle Heimberg (Wasserspringen)
The 21-year-old diver from Fislisbach achieved something historic last year. As the first Swiss woman ever, she reached the Olympic final in an individual diving competition (3 m board). Heimberg finished 11th there. In addition, she won the silver medal at the European Championships in the 1 m board competition.
Fabienne Kocher (Judo)
The Aargau judoka Fabienne Kocher experienced her most successful year to date in 2021. The 28-year-old, who lives in Stilli and trains in Brugg, won the bronze medal at the world championships and qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. There she was on the medal course for a long time, but then lost the last two fights. So she placed fifth and won an Olympic diploma.
Matthias Kyburz (Orientierungslauf)
The 31-year-old from Fricktal has been one of the world’s best in orienteering for many years. Matthias Kyburz proved this impressively last year: European champion in the sprint relay and in the knock-out sprint, world champion in the middle distance, runner-up world champion in the long distance, third in the relay and second in the overall World Cup. With these achievements, he earned his sixth nomination for the election of “Aargau Athlete of the Year”.
Nora Meister (Para-Swimming)
The 19-year-old Nora Meister from Lenzburg caused a sensation twice last year. First at the European Championships, where she won two gold medals (400 m freestyle, 100 m backwards) and one silver medal (100 m freestyle) and even set a new world record over 400 m freestyle. And then she doubled up at the Paralympic Games, where she won the bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle.
Noel Ott (Beachsoccer)
This year, Noel Ott led the Swiss national beach soccer team onto the field as captain at the World Championships in Moscow. And he played a big part in the fact that the Swiss were allowed to travel home with the World Cup bronze medal in their luggage. Because Ott was named the “most valuable player” of the tournament at the World Championships in Moscow.
Team Tirinzoni (Curling)
The Tirinzoni team of the Aarau Curling Club shone last year in a season made difficult by Corona. The Aarau women secured the Swiss championship title, then won the World Championship trials and then defended their world championship title from 2019 in an impressive manner (12: 1 victories). Thanks to their second World Championship title in a row, they also qualified for the Olympic Games Games in Beijing.
This is how voting works
The voting for the choice of “Aargau Athlete of the Year” will be open from Saturday, February 19, 2022. Voting can be done both via SMS and online. The voting will run until Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The title will be presented at the sports gala that will be held on Friday, March 4, 2022 in Tägi Wettingen.
You can find more information about voting at www.aargauersport.ch/sport-gala.
