On the 26th of February the Awards Ceremony of the 6th edition of Lanzarote’s Sports Gala, “Gala del Deporte” took place at the Monumento al Campesino.
The event was presented by the journalist and university professor, Roberto Arrocha, a Lanzarote native who has lived in Seville for the last 25 years and presenter of the programme ‘A balón parado’, the official television programme of Sevilla FC.
The president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, who began his speech at the sports gala by offering his condolences to the relatives of Ibrahima Cámara – a young player of CDO Marítima who died in a tragic accident on our island -, congratulated the award winners and also took the opportunity of this emotional event to extend his congratulations “to each and every one of the people and entities that with their passion, dedication and effort make Lanzarote and La Graciosa internationally recognised and admired quintessentially as sporting islands”. “Not in vain, we continue to strengthen the European Sports Destination brand to position ourselves as a benchmark destination in sports tourism”, he remarked, expressing his great pride as island president “for having a pool of young and very high level sports professionals, who are supported by their families and by all the public institutions that support their sporting careers as far as possible”.
The Councillor for Sports, Juan Monzón, valued this Sports Gala “as the result of the great work carried out by the employees of the Island Sports Service”. “I would also like to congratulate the award winners and nominees, and especially all those who practice sport in this beautiful island.” he added.
Sports Gala Award winners 2024
Human Values Award: Antonio Sierra, , the historic Lanzarote basketball referee, in recognition of his decades of training and involvement in the island’s sport.
Youth Work Award: the Marlines Canoe Club, who for decades have been training new sporting talents in the capital, winning numerous awards and trophies at national and international level.
Research Award: Casimiro Tejera, the Sports Legend Award was presented to the relatives of Lolina Curbelo.
Sports Promotion Award: Marina Rubicón
Autochthonous Sports Award: Club Deportivo de Lucha Tinajo.
Male Collective Achievement Award: young sailors Miguel Ángel Morales and Alejandro Martín, from the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife, who last year were runners-up in the 420 class. The other two nominees, who also received a gift from the Corporation, were San Bartolomé CF, the team that won promotion to the RFEF Third Division last season, and the 4×100 relay team from the Club Atletismo ADAL.
Female Collective Achievement Award: Club Balonmano Barrilla Puerto del Carmen, the team that finished runners-up in the Spanish Junior Championship last season, ahead of the other two nominees: CB Zonzamas and the sailors Gabriela Cañibano and Ariadne Muñoz.
Best sportsperson (male): mixed martial arts fighter Hecher Sosa who recently won the bantamweight belt in the Fight Club Rush (FCR), bringing him closer to his dream of competing in the UFC. He was ahead in the jury’s vote of the UD Las Palmas player and full international for Equatorial Guinea, Saúl Coco, and the Rallye driver, Raúl Hernández.
Best sportsperson (female): Virginia Morales, patron of the winning boat of the Canary Islands Championship held at the end of last year, the first woman in the history of the competition to win the award. The other two nominees were karateka Amelie Skiba and swimmer Kennedy Hope Denby.
Special Award: Jesús Lasso Cabrera, a sports communicator who has been providing sports information on the island of Lanzarote for 50 years. Presented by Oswaldo Betancort and Juan Monzón.
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