On December 27, Xinhua News Agency selected the top ten international athletes in 2023, and swimming star Qin Haiyang was among them, and he was the only Chinese athlete on the list. It is worth mentioning that Qin Haiyang was selected as one of the top ten domestic athletes just the day before.
2023 is a real breakthrough year for Qin Haiyang, who won the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke at the World Championships in Fukuoka in July, becoming the first athlete to win three breaststroke championships in a single World Championships. Among them, in the 200-meter breaststroke competition, Qin Haiyang successfully broke the world record.
After the World Championships, Qin Haiyang participated in the Chengdu Universiade non-stop, and won 5 gold medals in the Universiade. Then he moved to the Hangzhou Asian Games, and won 5 golds and 1 silver in the Asian Games Qin Haiyang, refreshed 3 records, and won the MVP of the Asian Games.
In the FINA Swimming World Cup competition after the Asian Games, Qin Haiyang performed well in three consecutive stops and won the annual championship of the World Cup. He was also named FINA Men's Swimmer of the Year.
In addition to Qin Haiyang, the other 9 shortlisted top 10 international athletes of the year include:
Max Verstappen (Netherlands, male, 26 years old, racing).
Aitana Bonmati (Spain, female, 25 years old, football)
Nikola Jokic (Serbian, male, 28 years old, basketball)
Simon Biles (USA, female, 26 years old, gymnastics)
Mikaela Shifrin (USA, female, 28 years old, skiing)
Kelvin Kiptum (Kenya, 24 years old, male, track and field).
Kelly McKeown (Australian, female, 22 years old, swimming)
Faith Kipzhin (Kenya, female, 29 years old, track and field).
Novak Djokovic (Serbian, male, 36 years old, tennis).