LONDON -- Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to victory in the World Cup soccer final in the summer, and Heike Drechsler of East Germany, who had a glittering season in track and field, were named Friday as UPI's Sportsman and Sportswoman of The Year for 1986 in a poll of European sports editors.
Maradona polled 149 votes, 34 ahead of world tennis champion Ivan Lendl. Alain Prost of France, the world auto racing champion, placed third with 110.
Drechsler totalled 137 votes, 35 ahead of Martina Navratilova, the world No. 1 in women's tennis, and the winner of this award in 1984. Norway's long-distance runner Ingrid Kristiansen was third with 62 votes.
Maradona, 26, becomes the first soccer player to win the award, which began in 1974, while Drechsler is the third East German female track star to win it. Rosie Ackermann won in 1977 and Marita Koch won in 1979 and 1982.
Maradona helped Argentina win its second World Cup and was clearly the best player in the competition. He scored exceptional goals against Italy, England and Belgium.
Drechsler, who celebrated her 22nd birthday Tuesday, broke or equalled world records in the long jump and 200 meters four times. On June 21 at Tallinn in the Soviet Union, she long jumped 24 feet, 5 inches, improving her own mark of 24-5. Eight days later she equalled Koch's world 200 meters record of 21.71 seconds.
On July 3, she equalled her own long jump world record in Dresden, East Germany. On Aug. 27 she won the European long jump title with a championship best of 23-10 . Four of her jumps were better than the runner-up, Galina Chistyakova of the Soviet Union.
On Aug. 29, she again equalled Koch's 21.71 mark to win the European 200 meters title with a superb run. She finished six meters clear of Marie Christine Cazier of France at the finish. But for a strong headwind, she could have clocked around 21.60.
