VfL Wolfsburg Women striker Alexandra Popp has been named as Lower Saxonyâs Sportswoman of the Year for 2024. It is the second time the 33-year-old has been awarded the prize, following her triumph in 2016. Popp received the honour at the âBall des Sportsâ event at the Hanover Congress Centre on Friday evening.
âA big thank you to my teamsâ
Andre Kwiatkowski, President of the Lower Saxony State Sports Association, hailed Popp as an âabsolute role modelâ for young athletes and praised her leadership both at VfL and in the German national team, from which she retired in September 2024 after earning 145 senior caps. Kwiatkowski also highlighted Poppâs successes last year, including lifting the DFB Cup and winning a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Paris.
âIâm incredibly proud to be standing here,â said Popp after receiving the award on stage in Hanover. âI have to say a big thank you to my teams. Iâm not by myself out on the pitch; Iâm with at least ten others and as a player Iâm dependent on them. So itâs my teams that brought me here.â
âI hope that other sports wonât be forgottenâ
Together with TV presenter and sports commentator Tom Bartels and RTL presenter Jasmin Wiegand, Popp looked back on her successes at the Olympics and in the DFB Cup. She also spoke about the positive development of womenâs football in recent years. âWe hope to continue taking further steps,â said Popp. âBut I also hope that other sports wonât be forgotten.â
Almost one third of the ballot
The weighting of the overall vote was evenly split between a public vote and that of a panel of experts. Popp received 31.5 percent to finish ahead of canoeist Paulina Paszek (HKC Hannover, 23 percent) and rower Pia Greiten (OsnabrĂŒcker Rowing Club, 20.1 percent).
It is the third consecutive year that there has been a She-Wolves representation on stage at the Lower Saxony athletesâ awards ceremony, after the Green-and-Whites won the Team of the Year prize for both 2022 and 2023.
