Sander Skotheim wins International Fair Play Award for athletics 2024  

 

LAUSANNE – Norwegian decathlete Sander Skotheim has been named winner of the International Fair Play Award as part of the World Athletics Awards 2024.

Following nominations from fans, members of the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) and World Athletics formed a jury to decide on a shortlist of five fair play moments in athletics from 2024, before Skotheim was declared the winner.

Skotheim’s fair play moment occurred at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the 22-year-old had been in contention for a medal. Despite the disappointment of no-heighting in the pole vault – the eighth of the 10 decathlon disciplines – meaning that he was no longer in contention for a medal, the world indoor and European silver medallist decided to continue competing. In the process Skotheim supported his compatriot Markus Rooth, helping his teammate in the final discipline – the 1500m.

Rooth gained gold for Norway with a national record score of 8796 points, winning the Olympic title by 48 points.

“I feel honoured to get this award,” said Skotheim, whose performance in Paris included his first eight metre-plus long jump – that 8.03m jump being the longest leap of the competition. Skotheim’s year also included a decathlon PB of 8635 that secured him European silver in Rome and a heptathlon national record of 6407 that gained him a world indoor medal.

“The Olympics was a very interesting experience for me, since I had a very good competition and then I no-heighted in the pole vault and it ruined my medal chances. At the same time, Markus had a very good pole vault competition that put him in an excellent position to win.

“As a multi-eventer I love to compete, so despite my own disappointment I wanted to finish the decathlon, and help Markus on his way to a gold for Norway. In the 1500m we made a plan to ensure that Markus would win the decathlon and my part was to make his race in the 1500m as easy as possible.”

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “I am incredibly proud that our sport continues to be such an example when it comes to moments of fair play, integrity and camaraderie among athletes. We are seeing it across all different athletics disciplines – on the track, field and road.

“To rebound after a setback the way Sander did is the mark of a great athlete. The true test of character is in the difficult times, it’s not when everything is going well, so I congratulate Sander for his sportsmanship and resilience – he is a worthy recipient of this award.”

CIFP President Jeno Kamuti said: “It is wonderful to witness such an unselfish act from an athlete on the most important stage in the sporting world, the Olympic Games. Our relationship with World Athletics is now more than 20 years, and it has been a pleasure collaborating with President Coe and his team. It is particularly pleasing to me that we have expanded the collaboration beyond the World Athletics Championships and we now jointly evaluate proposals from athletics competitions throughout the whole year. Congratulations to Sander Skotheim.”

The CIFP was established 60 years ago to promote the principles of fair play in sport: fair competition, respect, friendship, team spirit, equality and sport without doping. It honours those who respect the written and unwritten rules of sport, which include integrity, solidarity, tolerance, care, excellence and joy, and who set an example for others, on and off the field. The CIFP’s first collaboration with World Athletics dates back to the 2003 World Athletics Championships in Paris. Twelve awards have been handed out since then.