(Reuters) – Poland’s Marcin Oleksy, who has an amputated leg, still can’t believe his volleyed shot won FIFA’s Puskas Award, which recognizes the most beautiful goal of the year, at the awards on Monday, beating the finalists Dimitri Payet and Richarlison in the 2022 dispute.
Oleksy’s spectacular kick in amputee football was the most voted by fans and experts on the panel, beating Richarlison’s acrobatic World Cup volley in Brazil’s game against Serbia and Payet’s long-range strike for Olympique Marseille against the PAOK in the Conference League.
“The time will come to believe in what happened,” Oleksy said on Tuesday after returning to Warsaw. “But I am very happy. I managed to get past Payet, Richarlison, (Kylian) Mbappé – now there’s Marcin Oleksy.”
Oleksy, who combines football with a full-time job as a bulldozer operator, became the first amputee athlete to win the award.
“I looked at the audience and thought: ‘So you can compete with Mbappé? Yes you can! Is it possible to win against him? It is!’”, said the Pole later in a press conference.
“It was an honor to be nominated for the Puskas Prize. Congratulations @airoleksy, your goal is a masterpiece and you are an inspiration to all of us!” Richarlison wrote on Instagram, alongside his photo with Oleksy.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Anita Kobylinska)
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