Voting in our second instalment of Photo of the Year was a lot closer than the previous week. Two images standout with over half the votes and it swung between these two all week for the lead.
In the end an image of young Hungarian athlete, Zsófia Tóth deep in concentration during pre race warm up won out by a comfortable margin of 8.5% of the votes. The image is genuinely striking capturing the true intensity of an athlete’s pre race routine.
Now we’ve had the reader’s choice its back to our camera artist Delly Carr for his choice and why.
“I get excitement when looking at this image because it is a true action sports picture. I have two champions of the sport in their final seconds of their sprint to the finish line.
Nothing special about that I guess, but when you focus on their facial expressions, their running posture and their bulging leg muscles, you know immediately that these two athletes are at their peak physical limit of speed, power and stress on their body.
They are giving absolutely everything they have for the sweet taste of victory.” - Delly Carr
Camera: Nikon D3S
Exposure: F2.8
ASA: 200
Lens: 70-200mm
In the end it was very close between two fantastic pictures, but it is our reader’s choice that progresses to the final. See all the nominees here