During a ceremony held yesterday, Monday 2 February 2015, the Dominican Olympic Committee honored Dominican tennis player Victor Estrella with the title of Athlete of the Year 2014. Baseball stars Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz were also present.
Speaking at the annual event, Dominican Olympic Committee president Luisin Mejia said that this decade had been great for the Dominican Republic with major achievements in the Central American and Caribbean, Pan-American and Olympic games. He acknowledged President Danilo Medina’s support for sports, and mentioned the President meeting with the Dominican volleyball team when an official trip to Italy coincided with the World Volleyball Championships.
Estrella competed in three Grand Slam tournaments, including the United States Open where he reached the third qualifying round. He also played in the Roland Garros tournament in France and in Wimbledon. He is the only Dominican to have played in those tournaments. He won three Challenger tournaments n Salinas, Ecuador, Pereyra, Colombia and Morelos, Mexico. He made the semifinals of the ATP in Bogota and the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Washington. He is also recognized for having defeated three players seeded in the top 20 of the ATP ranking n Richard Gasquet, Feliciano Lopez and Julien Benneteau.
Pedro Martinez was also honored that evening. One of the memorable moments was when he gave engineer Francina Hungria, who was in the audience, a hug, prior to receiving his honor. Hungria lost her eyesight, a victim of violent crime in Santo Domingo in 2013.
The athletes of the year were:
Carmen Julissa Espinal: Archery
Veronica Bivieca: Badminton
Angel Gonzalez Sanabia: Baseball
Francisco Garcia: Basketball
Francisco Alejandro Prats: Bowling
Juan Ramon Solano: Boxing
Ariel Jimenez: Canoeing
Jose Lisandro Munoz: Chess
William Guzman: Cycling
Hector Florentino Roca: Equestrian
Elsa Maria Mateo Mueses: Fencing
Yancarlos Lopez Moscoso: Football
Ernesto Jose Vitienes: Golf
Audrys Nin Reyes: Gymnastics
Luis Sanlate: Handball
Benifer Moronta Perez: Hockey
Wander Mateo: Judo
Dionisio Gustavo: Karate
Alex Miguel Hernandez: Modern Pentathlon
Josman Duran: Precision Shooting
Luis Perez: Racquetball
Guillermo Enrique Flaquer: Sailing
Marcos Joel Baterpool Medina: Skating
Eduardo Lorenzo: Skeet
Geovanny Esmeralda Nunez: Softball
Alexander de la Cruz: Surfing
Josue Dominguez Ramos: Swimming
Emil Santos: Table Tennis
Luisito Pie: Taekwondo
Victor Estrella: Tennis
Maria Cristina Mancebo: Track & Field
Raquel Torres: Triathlon
Elvis Salsires Contreras: Volleyball
Candida Vasquez: Weight Lifting
Jansel Ramirez: Wrestling
Warlin Antonio Peguero: Wushu
Odalis Gomez Vargas: Paralympics