BTA: Aleksandar Nikolov and Karlos Nasar Make Top Ten of Balkan Athlete of 2025 Poll

Volleyball player Aleksandar Nikolov and weightlifter Karlos Nasar made it into the top 10 of the 52nd edition of BTA's poll “Balkan Athlete of the Year” for 2025.

The traditional survey involved the national agencies of countries in the region – BTA (Bulgaria), ANA-MPA (Greece), AGERPRES (Romania), Anadolu Agency (Turkiye), TANYUG (Serbia), MINA (Montenegro), MIA (North Macedonia), HINA (Croatia), FENA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), CNA (Cyprus), ATA (Albania), and KosovaPress (Kosovo).

Nikolov was the top scorer at the Volleyball World Championship in the Philippines and played a key role in helping the Bulgarian national team win the silver medals. He was also selected for the tournament’s team of the best players.

Nassar won the world title in the 94-kilogram category with a world record in the clean and jerk, and also took gold in the 96-kilogram category at the European Championship, setting world records in both the clean and jerk and the total.

The top 10 of the 2025 poll also included basketball player Alperen Sengun, who played a key role for Turkiye in winning the silver medals at the European Championship; swimmer David Popovici (Romania), world champion in the 100m and 200m freestyle; judo athlete Distria Krasniqi (Kosovo), European champion and world silver medalist in the 52 kg category; pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis (Greece), European indoor champion and world silver medalist both indoors and outdoors; alpine skier Zrinka Ljutic (Croatia), who achieved three World Cup victories and earned the small Crystal Globe in slalom; basketball player Nikola Jokic (Serbia), runner-up in the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) ranking; rower Stefanos Douskos (Greece), world champion and European silver medalist; basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), who led the national team to bronze at EuroBasket 2026 and was selected for the tournament’s ideal five.

In this year’s edition of the BTA poll, a total of 47 athletes were named. The winner and full results of the vote will be announced at a ceremony in Sofia on 16 February, the day in 1898 when BTA published its first news bulletin.