European Athlete of the Year Trophy

Triple jumper Jonathan Edwards was the first to win the award twice.

The European Athlete of the Year Trophy is an annual prize awarded to sportspeople participating in athletics, including track and field, road running and cross country running competitions. The election has been organised by the European governing body for the sport of athletics, the European Athletic Association (EAA), since 1993.

Each year, a shortlist is created by selecting the top European athlete in each event, based upon performances at the year's major championships. Only in exceptional circumstances will more than one athlete be shortlisted per event. Athletes who have served a doping ban of two years or more are ineligible.[1] Via the EAA website, fans, media and members of the EAA federations are allowed to vote for five male and five female athletes on the list, with athletes receiving one to five points based on their ranking. A panel of experts also cast their votes. The votes of each of the four groups comprises 25% of the athletes' total scores, and the male and female athletes with the highest combined points totals win.[2][3]

The European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Award was inaugurated in 2007. The award, open to athletes under 23 years of age, was created as a way of acknowledging young competitors' achievements on their way to becoming senior athletes.[4]

Waterford Crystal sponsored the event from 2002–2008 and Mondo, a manufacturer of track and field equipment and facilities, sponsored the 2009 presentation.[5][6]

Mo Farah of Great Britain is the only athlete, male or female, to win the main award three times. Czech javelin legend Jan Železný, British triple jumper Jonathan Edwards and his Swedish rival Christian Olsen have won the men's award twice, while Sweden's heptathlete Carolina Klüft, the Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Croat high jumper Blanka Vlasic and Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers have won the women's award twice each. Two athletes have completed the double of the Rising Star award, followed by the senior award; sprinter Christophe Lemaitre of France, and Great Britain's Olympic and World champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Winners

Yelena Isinbayeva broke the pole vault world record to win the award in 2005 and 2008.
Year Men Women
1993 United Kingdom Linford Christie United Kingdom Sally Gunnell
1994 United Kingdom Colin Jackson Russia Irina Privalova
1995 United Kingdom Jonathan Edwards Republic of Ireland Sonia O'Sullivan
1996 Czech Republic Jan Železný Russia Svetlana Masterkova
1997 Denmark Wilson Kipketer Germany Astrid Kumbernuss
1998 United Kingdom Jonathan Edwards France Christine Arron
1999 Czech Republic Tomáš Dvořák Romania Gabriela Szabo
2000 Czech Republic Jan Železný Norway Trine Hattestad
2001 Switzerland André Bucher Austria Stephanie Graf
2002 United Kingdom Dwain Chambers Turkey Süreyya Ayhan
2003 Sweden Christian Olsson Sweden Carolina Klüft
2004 Sweden Christian Olsson United Kingdom Kelly Holmes
2005 Lithuania Virgilijus Alekna Russia Yelena Isinbayeva
2006 Portugal Francis Obikwelu Sweden Carolina Klüft
2007 Finland Tero Pitkämäki Croatia Blanka Vlašić
2008 Norway Andreas Thorkildsen Russia Yelena Isinbayeva
2009 United Kingdom Phillips Idowu Spain Marta Domínguez
2010 France Christophe Lemaitre Croatia Blanka Vlašić
2011 United Kingdom Mo Farah Russia Mariya Savinova
2012 United Kingdom Mo Farah United Kingdom Jessica Ennis
2013 Ukraine Bohdan Bondarenko[7] Czech Republic Zuzana Hejnová
2014 France Renaud Lavillenie Netherlands Dafne Schippers
2015 United Kingdom Greg Rutherford Netherlands Dafne Schippers
2016 United Kingdom Mo Farah Spain Ruth Beitia

Rising Star winners

The first female Rising Star, Jessica Ennis became heptathlon World Champion in 2009.
Year Men Women
2007 Italy Andrew Howe United Kingdom Jessica Ennis
2008 Germany Raphael Holzdeppe United Kingdom Stephanie Twell
2009 France Christophe Lemaitre Norway Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal
2010 France Teddy Tamgho Croatia Sandra Perković
2011 Germany David Storl United Kingdom Jodie Williams
2012 Czech Republic Pavel Maslák Sweden Angelica Bengtsson
2013 Serbia Emir Bekrić Iceland Aníta Hinriksdóttir
2014 United Kingdom Adam Gemili Russia Mariya Kuchina
2015 Poland Konrad Bukowiecki Switzerland Noemi Zbären
2016 Germany Max Heß Belgium Nafissatou Thiam

See also

References

General
Specific
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