21 December 2023 , 19:38
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Lionel Messi was overlooked for a prestigious award despite making MLS history, in fact losing out on the Athlete of the Year award to the highest-paid athlete in history.
Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani was crowned the Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years, beating Messi and tennis ace Novak Djokovic.
Ohtani bagged 20 out of 87 votes, while Messi and Djokovic each received 16. NBA champ Nikola Jokic got 12 votes. Over the last year, Messi led Argentina to World Cup victory and made a big move to Inter Miami after leaving PSG.
Messi made a grand entrance at his new club with a stunning free-kick to secure a win against Cruz Azul. He's since netted 11 goals in 14 matches and helped Miami lift the Leagues Cup - their first-ever trophy.
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Ohtani first won the AP Male Athlete of the Year award in 2021 and has claimed it again thanks to another standout MLB season. Despite an injury cutting his season short, he managed 151 hits and 44 home runs from 497 at-bats.
He smashed it with 95 runs batted in and 20 stolen bases, hitting an awesome .304 average. Plus, he wowed everyone by striking out 167 players before a torn UCL stopped his pitching.
The top player of 2023 led the American League in home runs and loads of other impressive statistics. He then bagged one of the biggest deals ever, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a whopping $700 million over 10 years.
Over the past year Messi has won the World Cup and helped deliver success to Inter Miami (Getty Images)Ohtani joined the Dodgers on December 14 and shared why he picked them, saying through a translator: "I just saw my contract was 10 years, I'm not sure how long I will be able to play the game, so I do prioritise winning.
That's on the top of my list and I will probably never change and that's one of the reasons why I chose this team." He also mentioned: "When I had the meeting with the Dodgers the ownership group, they said when they looked back at the last 10 years, even though they made the playoffs every single year, one World Series ring, they consider that a failure."
"When I heard that, I knew they were all about winning. That's exactly how I feel. That's one of the things that stood out. Going forward with the Dodgers, I feel the same, pretty much the same as I did six years ago. I feel like I'm always a challenger. I always love challenges and I feel like I'll be facing a lot of new challenges as a Dodger and I'm ready for it."
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