Will Yulia Navalnaya be Awarded Time Magazine’s Person of the Year?

The Time Magazine Person(s) of the year is awarded to the cover star of the annual edition of the news publication Time. This honour tends to be given to a person or group of individuals who are deemed to have made a considerable difference to the world or have positively influenced world affairs within the last 12 months.

The final decision is made by a team of magazine editors, who will select the recipient based on a general concensus. There is also an online readers poll and although we aren’t sure how much this influences the final decision, this does help the editors to get a flavour of the public opinion. The announcement is typically made at the beginning of December.

The first award was handed out in 1927 and has been previously known as both ‘Man of the Year’ and ‘Woman of the Year’. The award only became gender neutral in 1999.

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Pop sensation Taylor Swift was given this prestigious honour in 2023 and she follows in the footsteps of Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk and Greta Thunberg.

The award is often shared with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sharing the cover in 2020. Groups of people may also be awarded this prestigious honour with The Silence Breakers picking up the gong in 2017 following their excellent work in bringing nationwide coverage to victims of sexual abuse and harrassment. 2023-winner Taylor Swift was amongst those represented on the cover.

Many world leaders have also graced the cover of Time magazine including Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, Barack Obama (twice) and somewhat questionably, Vladimir Putin.

Every serving US president with the exception of Gerald Ford, Calvin Coolidge and Herbet Hoover have featured on the front with many of them, including Lynden B Johnson, Richard Nixon and Franklin D. Roosevelt being named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year on multiple occasions.

Betfair’s Odds of 260 are predicting a 27.8% chance that Yulia Navalnaya will become awarded Time Magazine’s Person of the Year ::: Discover the current Odds now HERE 

Who is Yulia Navalnaya?

Yulia Navalnaya is the late widow of the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny who died in February after reportedly falling ill during a short walk near his home in Siberia. The 47-year old failed to recover with medics reportedly spending 30 minutes trying to resuscitate him.

Yulia has accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of killing her husband and has subsequently become the figurehead of the Russian opposition and although she has been forced to move around, she hasn’t been afraid to speak to world leaders and has vowed to continue her husband’s work.

She continues to campaign against corruption and has spread the word that Russia will return to a standard European democracy one day in the future.

Navalnaya has shown exceptional strength in the face of tragedy and her selfless campaigning has won her a number of supporters over the last six months. She is viewed as a symbol of democracy as well as a courageous fighter despite being oveerwhelmed by grief.

She is aiming to be the person who can unite Russia’s divided opposition and her rapid ascent has seen her catapulted into the spotlight having previously worked quietly in the background.

Who are the Other Contenders?

Satoshi Nakamoto is currently joint-favourite for this year’s Time Magazine Person of the Year. This is a pseudonym given to the inventors of Bitcoin. They also designed and implemented the first blockchain database. Although the identity of this mysterious individual has yet to be unmasked, there is little doubt that their technological creation has changed the way we pay for goods and services online.

2016-winner Donald Trump is also back on the list and although at the time of writing, we don’t know whether the former US president will be voted back into the White House, there is a chance that he could add his name to short list of multiple cover-stars. His rival Joe Biden is also a contender whereas Artificial Intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy Jr are also high on the list.

Elon Musk could also add his name to the select list of people who have appeared on the cover multiple times.

If you believe that Yulia Navalnaya will be the 2024 Time Magazine Cover Star, you could win €360 by betting €100 at Betfair.com if it happens.