It was no bad last year he offered, Armand Duplantis. It became Olympic Games and European Championship gold, World Championship gold indoors and three world records in pole vault – but it was still not enough to win the Jerring Award at Monday's Sports Gala.
He had to see himself beaten by Truls Möregårdh, who brought home two silver medals from the summer Olympic Games in Paris and gave an entire nation table tennis fever.
So what does it actually take for him to win the Jerring Award again?
I can only hope that no one like Truls comes and does something impressive, Duplantis notes on the red carpet before the Athletics Gala, the day after the Sports Gala.
"We'll solve it"
He himself was one of those who followed Möregårdh's progress in table tennis during the Olympic Games, which ended with silver both individually and for the men's team.
I love table tennis, I actually played a bit in the USA when I was younger. It's a fantastic sport and I followed Truls throughout the entire Olympic Games. It was so exciting to watch his entire journey.
He also opens up for a table tennis duel against Möregårdh.
We'll solve it, says Duplantis.
"Not entirely logical"
However, Duplantis did not leave the Sports Gala entirely empty-handed – he was awarded in the categories male athlete of the year and performance of the year. But in the "people's prize", which the Jerring Award is called, he fell at the finish line for the second year in a row.
The Jerring Award is not entirely logical. What Truls did was a slightly bigger surprise than what I did. I think everyone knew I had the opportunity to break the world record and take home the Olympic Games gold, I was one of the biggest favorites during the Olympic Games. But it's always fun with an "underdog story" so you can't complain about it, says Duplantis.
He does not grudge too much about missing out on the prize, which he actually won in 2020.
The Jerring Award is fun, I've won it once and if I don't win it more it's completely okay.
A little consolation was perhaps also provided during Tuesday's Athletics Gala, where Duplantis was naturally awarded. He was named both athlete of the year and performance of the year in the national team during the evening.
