British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton was voted runner-up, while Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis came in third in the poll held by PAP among journalists from news agencies across Europe.
The second-highest rated Polish athlete, tennis player Iga Świątek, was voted in ninth place.
Journalists from 25 European news agencies, including France’s AFP and Germany’s DPA, selected their picks for the top 10 athletes in Europe.
The PAP poll, now in its 63rd year, is one of the oldest of its kind worldwide, according to the Polish news agency.
Polish athletes have previously won three times. Long-distance runner Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak was voted European athlete of the year when the poll was first held in 1958, and track-and-field legend Irena Szewińska, Poland’s most decorated Olympic athlete, won twice, in 1966 and 1974.
![The Warsaw headquarters of Poland's PAP news agency. Photo: Marek Mazurkiewicz [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]](//static.prsa.pl/images/966712e8-727e-4042-a40b-99bc48b572ea.jpg)
The Warsaw headquarters of Poland's PAP news agency. Photo: Marek Mazurkiewicz [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Lewandowski was in early October named UEFA Player of the Year, a major European football honor adding to a long list of accolades for the Polish marksman.
The 32-year-old in mid-December picked up world football's governing body FIFA’s 2020 Best Men's Player award.
The Polish goal machine was last month voted the world’s best football player in 2020 in a poll held by the British newspaper The Guardian among 241 judges from 71 countries.
Lewandowski was in late December named Player of the Year at the 2020 Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, capping off a remarkable season for the Polish star striker.
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Source: PAP