Romanian swimmer David Popovici is among the five athletes nominated by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) for the 2021 Piotr Nurowski 'Best Summer European Young Athlete' Prize, the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee announced on Facebook.
In 2021 David Popovici won three gold medals at the European Junior Swimming Championships, broke two world junior records in the 100-metre and 200-metre freestyle, and placed 4th at the Tokyo Olympics in the 100-metre freestyle event, agerpres reports.
The Piotr Nurowski annual prize is awarded to young, up-and-coming athletes that over the past years have had outstanding sporting achievements, as well as an exceptional conduct on and off the field of play. Created in memory of former President of the Polish Olympic Committee Piotr Nurowski who tragically died in 2010 in a plane crash, the prize has been awarded to deserving summer athletes since 2010, while a winter edition has been in place since 2016.
In 2012, gymnast Larisa Iordache finished as runner-up in the vote of the representatives of the delegates to the EOC General Assembly.