rogerfederer.com - Swiss Athlete of the Year 2006

Swiss Athlete of the Year 2006

Roger was elected Swiss Athlete of the Year 2006 at the  Sports Awards" ceremony in Bern yesterday, after already having won the award in 2003 and 2004.

As Roger has already taken up training for the next season he joined the show via live broadcast from Dubai. He said that he wanted to reach many more high goals next year. "It was a great year, many more like this are welcome to follow", he said to the Swiss audience. Bernhard Russi, former ski-champion, handed over the award and praised all nominees as "best of their domain" (Stéphane  Lambiel, ice-skating; Fabian Cancellara, cycling). Roger clearly took home the award, heading the election by about 30 percent of the votes. "I hope I can take part in the event personally in the future", Roger said after having been announced the winner. He also addressed his thanks to his fans who show their support with Swiss flags in stadiums all over the world. Roger had chosen Severin Lüthi, the Swiss Davis Cup captain, to receive the trophy in Bern. At the end of the event there was even a special surprise for our star: Tiger Woods, who has been elected World Sportsman of the Year twice just like Roger, praised him as an athlete and a friend.

The other winners are Tanja Frieden (snowboard) as Female Athlete of the Year, the national soccer team as Team of the Year, Köbi Kuhn as Coach of the Year (national soccer team), Johan Djourou (soccer) as Newcomer of the Year as well as Edith Hunkeler as Handicapped Athlete of the Year.