In less than a month the winners of the fourth edition of the AIPS Sport Media Awards will be crowned in Doha, Qatar. With preparations for a memorable event in full swing, AIPS is honoured to announce the Top 3 in each category. 

After the submission window closed in November 2021, 1732 entries began the intense race for a place on the podium and were thoroughly screened across different judging stages. Now there are 33. 

The members of the Jury will meet the day before the ceremony to determine the final positions of these nominees.  

Winners of each senior category will receive US$ 8,000 (1st prize), US$ 3,000 (2nd prize) and US$ 2,000 (3rd prize). The three Young Reporters categories (Photography, Writing and Broadcasting) will have one winner each and they will receive a scholarship to a major international sports event. 

The magnificent Khalifa International Stadium will provide the stage for the much-anticipated celebration of incredible sports storytelling in all its forms. Special Awards, including A Life in Sport and Investigative Reporting, will be announced during the final ceremony. 

Based on voting from the 12-member AIPS Sport Media Awards Jury, here are the top 3 in each category, listed in alphabetical order of surname:

Photography Sport Action
Durão André (Brazil), Sure kick – Globoesporte.com
Isakovic Andrej (Serbia), The halo effect – AFP
Sanchez Arrazola Felix (Spain), Tentacles in the sand – Fotorunners

Photography Portfolio
Mason Clive (UK), Olympic sailing Tokyo 2020 – Getty Images
Marcelino Ueslei (Brazil), Taste of golden – Reuters
Venance Loïc (France), Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – AFP

Video Athlete Profile
Moss William (USA), My pursuit: Life, legacy & Jordan Burroughs – NBC SPORTS
Muhi Pires Andràs (Hungary), One for all – ELF Pictures Vimeo
Niu Mengtong (China), Marbury: A Beijing boy – Xinhua News Agency

Video Short Feature
Ababsa Julien (France), Always get up – France Télévisions
Iro Heidi (Austria), Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis – RedBull TV 
Koupidar Maziyar (Iran), Lost dreams: Story of four Afghan sisters – Maziyar Koupidar YouTube

Video Documentary
Darnon Matthieu (France), Backdraft – Canal+
Harrison David (UK), Al Jazeera investigations: The men who sell football – Al Jazeera English
Nahr Christoph (Germany), Unified for gold: The German Biathlon Association – ARD

Writing Best Colour Piece
Encarnacion Jose (Puerto Rico), Camarero racecourse: a money machine that runs with injured and abused horses – Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
Ford Will, Yu Wufei (USA / China), 172 runners started this ultramarathon: 21 of them never came back – Runnersworld
Hope Nick (UK), ‘Refugee Paralympian Ibrahim Al Hussein’s remarkable journey from war-torn Syria’ – Bbc.co.uk

Writing Best Column
Audisio Emanuela (Italy), Those 11 dreamlike minutes – La Repubblica
Mora y Araujo Marcela (Argentina), Diego’s sleeping – Theguardian.com
Rowan Kate (UK), Groped, kicked and shown the kitchen: What it’s really like being a woman in rugby – The Telegraph

Audio
Blaschke Ronny (Germany), A contested field (Football in war zones) – Deutschlandfunkkultur.de
Holmes Tracey (Australia), The ticket: Afghanistan rescue mission, Australia steps up – Abc.net.au
Horgan Mark (Ireland), Where is George Gibney? Ep10: Sea swimming – Bbc.co.uk

Young Reporter Photography
Allison Joe (New Zealand), Eyes on the ball – Getty Images
Moraes Luiza (Brazil), Messi’s first title with Argentina – Instagram – Copaamerica
Zeinali Alireza (Iran), Human catapult – Footballi.net

Young Reporter Broadcasting
Abdallah Chikawe Fatma (Tanzania), A woman has an equal right of playing football even if she comes from countries that practice Islam – Azam TV
Hema Francis (Ghana), Against all odds: Pra babies hoping to make it through adversity – TV3 Ghana Limited
Rathgeb Thomas (Austria), Car racing without borders: A portrait of Benjamin Doppelreiter – OrfSportPlus

Young Reporter Writing 
Encarnacion Jose (Puerto Rico), Camarero racecourse: a money machine that runs on injured and abused horses – Centro de Periodismo Investigativo
Jain Sanket (India), In Kolhapur: Wrestlers’ diets, weighty problems – Ruralindiaonline.org 
Powell Jackie (USA), The WNBA is finally catching up on mental health – Sports Illustrated

Source: AIPS