By that moment at the latest it was clear to every fan at the BayArena: We. Are champions of Germany. After Florian Wirtz scored at 3-0 on 68 minutes in the home game against Werder Bremen, he made it 4-0 on 83 minutes. Shortly after that goal – fans were all ready gathered on the touchlines – the supporters were unable to restrain themselves although there were several minutes to play. To ensure the game ended properly, Wirtz held the fans back and thereby prevented a pitch invasion. That was the moment that Ralf Ibing shot the Sports Photo of the Year 2024.
"So much happened at the BayArena on the day of the match that the special quality of this photograph only became really clear in calmly reviewing the photos," Ibing explained in an interview with bayer04.de. "Of course, it was also a different days work than usual for us photographers: We had to protect our equipment before the pitch invasion and find a place to photograph the historic moments – I decided to go for the stands. It was clear to me that the player would only be clearly visible for a few seconds. This photo shows a mixture of the boundless euphoria of the fans and the restraint shown by Florian Wirtz. A special subject for a special moment."
On the Sports Photo of the Year award:
1,263 submissions were made for 2024. The nine-person committee assesses photos according to technical implementation, emotion and aesthetics. Sometimes the story behind the photo is in focus with other images it was capturing an outstanding performance or an unforgettable moment. In addition to the main award, the committee also awarded prizes in the categories of 'Amateur and youth football', 'General sport', ‘Portfolio/sports reports' and 'Youth award powered by Nikon'. In 2024 the categories 'Paris 2024 – Olympic and Paralympic games’ – and 'Euro 2024 – on the touchline' also enabled submissions for big European sporting events.
Anyone looking for a personal memento of the historic title-winning moment can get the' Wirtz moment' or the 'discrete Wirtz moment' T-shirts at the Bayer 04 web shop or the Bayer 04 Fanwelt. The T-shirt costs €24.90, Bayer 04 Club members only pay €22.41.
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