Rafa Nadal, best athlete of 2008 according to European agencies
Rafa Nadal was voted best European Athlete of the Year 2008, according to a survey of seventeen of the news agencies of the continent, including Efe. Nadal, winner in 2008, among other titles, tournaments Roland Garros and Wimbledon and the Olympic gold in Beijing,
led the voting with 146 points, ahead of the pertiguista Russian Yelena Isinbayeva, European and Olympic champion (126) and British pilot Lewis Hamilton, Formula One world champion (101).
Alberto Contador, winner of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Spain, ranked seventh place with 36 points. Nadal is the first Spanish athlete who wins this poll, which since 1958 coordinates the Polish agency PAP. The shooting happened in the Swiss honors, including tennis, Roger Federer, winner of the previous four editions.