World No. 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal of Spain and Croatia's high jump queen Blanka Vlasic have been named by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) as the best male and female athletes of the year.
Nadal, the winner of three Grand Slam tournaments this year, had a narrow victory by 63 votes over Lionel Messi, an Argentinean national football team star and Barcelona forward. Nadal's compatriot Andres Iniesta, a player for the Spanish national football team, received third place in the list of the best athletes.
This year, Vlasic became the World Champion for the second time in her career as well as grabbed the title of the European Champion. She had a confident victory in the poll having left behind with over 200 votes Lindsey Vonn of the United States, who won the 2010 Vancouver Olympics gold in downhill.
Belgium's tennis star and former World No. 1 Kim Klijsters received the third most number of votes for the best female athlete of the year.
AIPS voting for the best athletes of the year is an annual event and involved this year 515 sports journalists from 93 countries.
MOSCOW, December 30 (RIA Novosti)
