Cristiano Ronaldo may be the world’s best soccer player, but one award he has never won is Portugal’s Male Athlete of the Year.
Cyclist Rui Costa won the award for a third straight year Wednesday. Costa, a 2012 Olympian and the 2013 World Road Race champion, won the Tour de Suisse for a third straight year in 2014. He’s the fourth-ranked cyclist in the world for the year.
Ronaldo, a 2004 Olympian, was among five finalists for Portugal’s Sportsman of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2013. This year, with Portugal eliminated in the World Cup group stage, no Portuguese soccer player made the nominee list of 32 men, let alone the five finalists.
A soccer player has never won Portugal’s Male Athlete of the Year, which has been given by the Portugal Sports Confederation since 2005.
The award is determined by voting from fans and personalities at the confederation’s awards gala.
Austrian soccer player wins Sportsman of the Year over Olympic, World champion skiers