San Antonio Spurs basketball star Tony Parker has been voted French Champion of Champions for 2003 by the sports daily l'Equipe.
The 21-year-old Parker is the first French basketball player to win the award. He was honored for winning the NBA title with the Spurs earlier this year. The newspaper called Parker "the symbol of a reinvigorated France."
In a poll of 145 L'Equipe journalists, Parker finished ahead of France's women's handball team, which won the world championship in Croatia a week ago. Third was Eunice Barber, who was the women's long jump gold medal at this year's World Athletics Championships in Paris.
Parker said he is proud of the L'Equipe award and that it's a reward for all the hard work he has put in. He said he is confident that one day he will play in the NBA All-Star game.