[Seoul=News Editing] In the May Netizen Awards Sports Grand Prize category, basketball star Heo Woong defended his top spot by setting a monumental record of winning for 29 consecutive months.

Following his record of 28 consecutive months last month, Heo Woong renewed his own record once again. He firmly defended his 1st place position by earning a total of 7,302 votes (36.9%) in the May voting. This further proved that Heo Woong is the absolute powerhouse and symbolic figure of the sports category.

This month, the pursuit of the latecomers aiming for the top spot was fiercer than ever in the highest ranks. Sweeping up an impressive 7,043 votes (35.5%) with explosive support from his global fandom, football star Lee Kang-in closely chased Heo Woong right up to the finish line. The gap between the two stars was narrowed to a mere 259 votes, or just a 1.4 percentage point difference in share, highlighting a much hotter and more solidified two-way rivalry in the sports category.

Following them, figure skating queen Kim Yuna recorded 1,604 votes (8.1%) with the steady support of her fans to securely maintain her 3rd place position. In the middle-to-upper ranks, a fierce competition of firepower unfolded tightly, with the pride of South Korea's flagship stars at stake.

Volleyball empress Kim Yeon-koung secured 4th place with 882 votes (4.5%), while football national team captain Son Heung-min secured 856 votes (4.3%) to rank 5th right behind her by a narrow margin. KBO superstar Kim Do-young settled in 6th place with 726 votes (3.7%) backed by the strong support of baseball fans.

In the lower half of the rankings, the valuable votes for stars of various sports were fully reflected, completing a meaningful ranking chart. Major Leaguer Lee Jung-hoo defended his 7th place spot with 619 votes (3.1%), and badminton empress An Se-young took 8th place with 385 votes (1.9%).

Next, trending golf star Yoon Ina recorded 381 votes (1.9%), just 4 votes behind An Se-young, to secure 9th place. Newly ranked Kiwoom Heroes ace An Woo-jin secured the final 16 votes (0.1%) to finish in 10th place, wrapping up the May Sports Grand Prize voting race.

With Heo Woong defending his throne by achieving the unparalleled record of 29 consecutive monthly wins, sports fans are focusing their attention on whether this momentum will continue next month and see him reach the Netizen Awards' dream record of 30 consecutive wins.

[Votes under 0.1% are not displayed.]