The AIPS Sport Media Awards are pleased to announce the shortlist for the Writing Best Colour Piece category.

The shortlist represents the second judging stage and is based on the most selected works performed by the AIPS Executive Committee members. 

Here are the selected works, in alphabetical order of country.

 

WRITING BEST COLOUR PIECE

Nadjib Djoudi (Algeria), Tizi Ouzou, Douira and Baraki stadiums… the other side of sports corruption – Akher Saa

Julian Linden and Craig Lord (Australia), Troubled Waters – The Daily Telegraph

Teddy Katz (Canada), Sport turns darkness into light for Syrian refugee athlete – Paralympic.org

Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber (Canada), Exclusive – Olympics-Belarusian sprinter says she was taken to airport against her wishes, will not return home – Reuters.com

Wufei Yu and Will Ford (China), 172 runners started this ultramarathon – 21 of them never came back – Runner’s World

Hugo Mario Cárdenas López (Colombia), Dirty ball – Diario El País

Jean-Michel Brochen (France), Didier Deschamps: ‘At night, when you are a coach, there are people in your head’ – L’Equipe

Achim Dreis (Germany), On the mat – FAZ

Peter Wenig (Germany), Blind trust – 2020magazin.de

Pradip Saha (India), The fall of Sushil Kumar and Indian wrestling – The Morning Context

Malachy Clerkin (Ireland), After a devastating acid attack, Tega Agberhiere has sights set on the top – Irishtimes.com

Lorenzo Longhi (Italy), Nobody ever cheers for the referee – Quattrotretre.it

Filippo Maria Ricci (Italy), Iñaki Williams, the Ghanian basque  – Sportweek-La Gazzetta dello Sport

Flavio Vanetti (Italy), ‘Thanks to Luna and Madhi I made peace with the Games. But I’m not going back as an athlete’ – Corriere della Sera

Roy Tomizawa (Japan), The challenge and significance of Tokyo2020: Inspiration, gut check and a dream to bring the world  together – Tokyoupdates.metro.tokyo.lg.jp

Christel Saneh (Lebanon), Cathy Freeman: Running for her people – Worldathletics.org

Dana Johannsen (New Zealand), The mystery of Mrs Muir – Stuff.co.nz

Anders Christiansen (Norway), Sexual abuse in Norwegian sports: How the system didn’t protect the kids – Verdens Gang

Dariusz Faron, Marek Wawrzynowski (Poland), Remember you are nobody – Wirtualna Polska

Jose Encarnacion (Puerto Rico), Camarero racecourse: A money machine that runs with injured and mistreated horses – Centro de Periodismo Investigativo 

Andreea Giuclea (Romania), How to stand up on your own – Lead.ro

Brenden Nel (South Africa), An Olympic champion without a medal – Newframe.com

José Ignacio Pérez Hernández (Spain), The man in chains to whom football helped to survive – Marca

Natalie Berry (UK), Olympic climbers are learning from monkeys – Wired.co.uk

Ben Collins (UK), Zaid Ait Malek: The stowaway who became a Spanish ultrarunning star – Bbc.com

Nick Hope (UK), Refugee Paralympian Ibrahim Al Hussein’s remarkable journey from war-torn Syria | Tom Daley: Triumph, trauma and a boy’s Olympic dream that came true – Bbc.com

Ivy Nyayieka, Christina Macfarlane, Jo Shelley (UK), Running As Equals: The elite athletes fighting for acceptance – Edition.cnn.com

Sana Noor Haq (UK), ‘Every risk that I took, it’s all worth it’: Abbas Karimi fled Afghanistan at age 16, now he’s representing the refugee – Edition.cnn.com 

George Ramsay (UK), How Maya Gabeira overcame a life-threatening accident to surf two record-breaking waves – Edition.cnn.com

Suzanne Wrack (UK), ‘This is our final’: the team who led athletes’ escape from Afghanistan – Theguardian.com

Eryn Mathewson (USA), Marathon Effort – Edition.cnn.com

Dvora Meyers (USA), Time for the end of the teen gymnast – FiveThirtyEight.com

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT – The three remaining voting stages will be conducted by the Jury – 12 respected members from the sport media industry representing the five continents. They will first select the top 10 (finalists) and then the top 3 (podium nominees) 

The final ceremony will take place in May in Europe, date and location still to be confirmed following the evolution of the pandemic.

Source: AIPS