'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok Selected as '2025 Athlete of the Year'
Beyond League of Legends, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok has been selected as the 'Athlete of the Year' in the country's largest brand awards.
On the 28th, the Korea Consumer Forum announced the recipients of the '2025 Brand of the Year' award in the individual and cultural categories, hosted by the Korea Consumer Brand Committee and organized by the Korea Consumer Forum and the Korea Economic Daily.
This year marks the 23rd edition of the 'Brand of the Year' awards, where 61 brands from South Korea, 12 brands from Vietnam, and 10 brands from Indonesia were selected. A total of 3,085,743 consumers participated, casting 282,717,703 votes.
In the domestic individual category, Yoo Jae-suk, known as the 'National MC', achieved first place for six consecutive years, setting a record for consecutive wins in the individual and cultural categories.
Actor Park Bo-gum, who played the pure-hearted 'Kwan-sik' in the Netflix series 'Squid Game', secured first place in three categories: male actor in the OTT section, multi-entertainer male section, and male actor in the Vietnam section.
Additionally, in the sports category, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok, who has achieved the remarkable feat of winning the 'World Championship' five times and earned a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, has been honored with the award.
Celebrating his 12th anniversary since his debut, Lee Sang-hyeok, who debuted with SK Telecom T1 in 2013 and has played with only one team for 12 years as a 'one-club man', has set a new milestone in esports history.
Moreover, Lee Sang-hyeok recently made a surprising announcement regarding a 'four-year contract renewal' with T1, assuring his position as a strong mid-laner for T1 until 2029.
Having signed a four-year contract at the age of 29, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok is expected to continue his professional gaming career until he turns 33, causing considerable anticipation among esports fans for the new records he may set in the future.
Meanwhile, in the '2025 Brand of the Year' program category, tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block' was selected for six consecutive years in the talk show category, MBC's 'I Live Alone' in the observation program category, and SBS's 'Running Man' in the weekend program category for three consecutive years.
This year, professors Yoo Young-man from Hanyang University and Yoo Hyun-joon from Hongik University were selected as 'Persons of the Year' for their contributions to the development of the Republic of Korea.
Image Source: Son Heung-min (left), Lee Jung-hoo (right) / gettyimageskorea, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok / Photo provided by T1, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok / Instagram 't1lol'
