The list of male and female shooters
Jessica Rossi she is the only Italian candidate for the Title of Athlete of the Year 2023 for the ISSF, International Shooting Sports Federation. The London 2012 Olympic Champion, this year's silver medalist at the World Championships in Baku (AZE), was included in a list of 18 male and female shooters who were selected as the possible best athletes of the 16 competitive season. The winners of the coveted title, one for men and one for women, will be decreed by the members of the Athletes' Commission and the members of the ISSF Coaches Committee, together with representatives of the media who usually follow shooting sports.
A recently restored title
The ISSF Athlete of the Year was a role to aspire to for 24 years, from 1984 to 2017, and was reintroduced this year by the ISSF Management led by President Luciano Rossi. To identify the Athlete of the Year, it is not based only on victories on the platform, but on a broader evaluation that takes into account behaviour, dedication to the values of shooting sports and much more.
The names of the possible winners
These are the names of the athletes identified:
The sixteen women are: Danka Bartekova (SVK), Nina Christen (SUI), Jeanette Hegg Duestad (NOR), Sixuan Feng (CHN), Jiayu Han (CHN), Ranxin Jiang (CHN), Anna Korakaki (GRE), Xue Li (CHN), Veronika Major (HUN), Seonaid McIntosh (GBR), Assem Orynbay (KAZ), Jessica Rossi (ITA), Jenny Stene (NOR), Doreen Vennekamp (GER), Dania Jo Vizzi (USA), Qiongyue Zhang ( CHN).
The eighteen men are: Clement Bessaguet (FRA), Giovanni Cernogoraz (CRO), Yuehong Li (CHN), Yukun Liu (CHN), Jan Lochbihler (SUI), Azmy Mehelba (EGY), Damir Mikec (SRB), Efthimios Mitas ( GRE), Petr Nymbursky (CZE), Naoya Okada (JPN), Zalan Pekler (HUN), Istvan Peni (HUN), Florian Peter (GER), Jiri Privratsky (CZE), Christian Reitz (GER), Alexander Schmirl (AUT) , Lihao Sheng (CHN) (source: FITAV).