Russian captain Khtey voted country’s top sportsperson for 2011
In the preliminary round, Khtey trailed biathlete Olga Zaitseva, but beat off the challenge of cross-country skier Alexei Petukhov, skeleton racer Olga Potylitsina and heavyweight boxer Alexander Povetkin to enter the final round.
In the tense final voting, Khtey was up against Zaitseva and the voting ran neck-and-neck until the final few seconds when Russia’s volleyball captain edged ahead, finally clinching 50.1 per cent of the vote to Zaitseva’s 49.9 per cent.
