Hamilton voted Europe's best ahead of Neuer, Djokovic

WARSAW - Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain has been voted Europe's best athlete for 2014 in a traditional poll conducted by the Polish news agency PAP among journalists from 18 European news agencies, including Tanjug.

Hamilton succeeds two-time, back-to-back winner and fellow Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany, having beaten FC Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer by just one point.

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who won the poll in 2011, finished in third place, ahead of Real Madrid CF's Cristiano Ronaldo and French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie.

Sixth-placed Darya Domracheva is the highest-ranking female athlete.

This year's list of Europe's top ten athletes is:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Formula 1) - 82 points
2. Manuel Neuer (Germany, football) - 81 points
3. Novak Djokovic (Serbia, tennis) - 74 points
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, football) - 72 points
5. Renaud Lavillenie (France, athletics) - 57 points
6. Darya Domracheva (Belarus, biathlon) - 57 points
7. Kamil Stoch (Poland, ski jumping) - 54 points
8. Katinka Hosszu (Hungary, swimming) - 49 points
9. Marc Marquez (Spain, motorcycle racing) - 47 points
10. Roger Federer (Switzerland, tennis) - 38 points

AP Photo / David Davies, PA