Fresh off a gold-medal performance at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, German DanceSport stars Marius Balan and Khrystyna Moshenska have added another major accolade to their remarkable careers. The pair finished First Runner-up in The World Games Athlete of the Year 2025 Award, earning an impressive 43,528 votes in a global public poll—an outcome that underlines their lasting impact on the sport and its worldwide community.
For Balan and Moshenska, the recognition is deeply personal.
“This support and appreciation mean that we have managed to touch people’s hearts throughout our active career,” they said.
The couple described being overwhelmed by messages of encouragement during the voting period, adding, “We received many phone calls, emails and social media messages. We thank everyone for this involvement.”
Their journey together is one built on longevity and trust. Individually, both athletes have spent around 30 years in dance, with 11 of those years competing together at the highest level.
Reflecting on that partnership, they emphasised the lessons learned over decades on the dance floor. “We have learned to lose and move on, to win and move on, to get injured and move on,” they explained.
“The most important thing is that we learned to be consistent—and we learned to consistently love each other.”
The voting campaign itself became a powerful moment for DanceSport as a whole, showcasing unity and global reach. Addressing the international community that rallied behind them, Balan and Moshenska urged continued solidarity.
“Continue to be united and determined when you represent dancing in society,” they said.
Calling DanceSport “a beautiful sport,” they highlighted its universal appeal, noting that dancing is one of the world’s most popular recreational activities—and that celebration in sport, in any form, almost always ends in dance.
Their Chengdu experience stands out as one of the emotional highlights of their careers.
The gold-medal final itself produced a moment they will never forget. “Our head coach was in the audience watching the final attentively,” they recalled.
Midway through the final, overwhelmed with emotion, Balan called the coach and “started crying with happiness because we felt we danced the way we intended.”
After that brief moment, they returned to the floor to complete what they described as a “wonderful final.”
As runners-up in The World Games Athlete of the Year 2025 Award, Marius Balan and Khrystyna Moshenska once again demonstrated that DanceSport’s power lies not only in sporting excellence, but in its ability to move hearts—both on and off the floor.