Yannick Michiels nominated for the World Games “Athlete of the Year”

Yannick Michiels nominated for the World Games “Athlete of the Year”

Yannick Michiels (BEL) is among 30 athletes nominated for the World Games “Athlete of the Year”, with voting beginning Monday, January 12th on the World Games website.

The Belgian sprint specialist took his first international orienteering title in 2025, when he won the men’s sprint at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China in August. In the intricate gardens in Jiangxi River Ecological Greenway Park, Michiels won by a full 16 seconds.

Yannick Michiels during the World Games Sprint in Chengdu in August 2025. Photo: Erling Thisted

A few weeks later, he just missed out on the medals by one second at the European Championships on home ground in Belgium. But he returned to the podium in Uster, Switzerland in September, where he was third in the World Cup Sprint.

How to vote
It’s possible to vote once every 24 hours and you have to cast votes for two candidates: Your first choice will get 2 votes and your second choice 1 vote. Please note that votes cast for only one candidate will not be counted.

The award voting will be held in two rounds, so from January 26th only the 10 candidates with the most votes will continue.

Their votes will be reset and a new round will be held until the Voting closes on February 2nd, 2026 at 12:00 GMT.

Throughout the campaign, the vote tallies for each candidate will be displayed in real time.

Go to the vote here

Front photo: The World Games – Xinhua/Jiang Han