Race walker Matej Tóth becomes 5-time Athlete of the Year

1st Lt Matej Tóth, a member of the Military Sports Club Dukla Banská Bystrica, has won the Athlete of the Year Award for the fourth year in a row. Overall, this is the fifth time he has been named the Best Slovak Athlete in his sporting career. This year's Olympic winner in the men's 50km race walk at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics took over the award while wearing the SVK Armed Forces officer's uniform. Reflecting on the award, Matej Tóth emphasised that, apart from his family and coach, it is the Dukla Military Sports Club and the MOD that have provided him with the background without which it would have been extremely difficult to achieve success.

Matej Tóth also expressed his gratitude to his coach, 1st Lt Matej Spišiak, who ended up being rated as the Best Athletics Coach of the Year by a panel of judges, including sporting experts, coaches, officials and journalists.

From among the athletes, Marcel Lomnický, hammer thrower, has placed second for the third year in a row. MSgt Martina Hrašnová, hammer thrower, placed fifth along with Jana Velďáková, long jumper. Of the 10 best athletes, just as last year, 6 were from the Dukla Military Sports Club. Dana Velďáková, triple jumper, finished 7th, and Sgt Dušan Majdán, race walker, moved from last year's 16th to 10th place.