The epic triumph of Argentina last year in the FIFA World Cup has led to Lionel Messi being the most obvious to win top accolades. Hence, ahead of a major South American award ceremony, the fans expected him to win it. However, a Tokyo Olympics gold medallist has been picked ahead of the Argentinian to bag the award for his performance in 2023.

Undoubtedly, the award shows how good a year the Olympian has had to finish ahead of World Champion Lionel Messi.

Lionel Messi finishes behind Olympic winner in the race for a major South American award

The Prensa Latina, the biggest media agency in Cuba, organized awards to honor the best athletes in 2023. With the World Cup and a magnificent year he had, Lionel Messi was one of the nominees for the award. However, the jury announced that the Tokyo Olympics gold medal winner Luis Orta for the top spot. He was announced the winner because of his outstanding performances in the Greco-Roman style wrestling this year.

The Cuban wrestler is having one of the best seasons of his career. He has participated in 20 matches this season. He only lost 2 of those fights. Orta fought in a total of 5 tournaments. He was the winner in all of those tournaments. This year against his various opponents, he won a total of 123 points and conceded only 38 points. In his 67kg category, he finished the year on No. 1 ranking with a total of 86400 points. This shows how the Cuban wrestler has dominated the Greco-Roman wrestling category this year.

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Lionel Messi’s World Cup Victory Divided Brazil, Claims Paulo Silas

The Argentinian forward created a new record as he got another important award

It was announced, a few days earlier that Lionel Messi won the prestigious Olimpia de Oro Award given by the Circle of Sports Journalists (CPD).  He was given the award for bringing the FIFA World Cup to the country and also winning his 8th Ballon d’Or this year.

With the win in 2023, Lionel Messi is now propelled into an exclusive realm of his own. He is now the only athlete in history to claim the coveted title four times. He won the award along with Argentine athlete, Bethlehem Casetta, an Olympic runner.

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However, there are so many more honors left to come in La Pulga’s path as in the year 2024, Messi will have the opportunity to retain the Copa America trophy with the national team.