Pair nominated for inaugural Golden Tracks awards for European athletes of the year and rising stars respectively

European Athletics has announced the names of athletes nominated for their inaugural Golden Tracks awards.

A total of 48 athletes have been put forward for awards which include male and female European athletes of the year and honours for the best male and female European rising stars. ‘Golden Tracks’ is the new name for the governing body’s annual awards which celebrated 20 years in 2013.

Mo Farah, Bohdan Bondarenko, Greg Rutherford, Anita Wlodarczyk, Dafne Schippers and Eilidh Child are among those nominated for male and female European athlete of the year awards, while Adam Gemili, Wilhem Belocian, Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson are among those on the rising stars lists.

The lists of nominees for both categories were put together by a panel of judges, with the winners to be decided by counting votes from fans, the media and European Athletics Member Federations as well as an expert European Athletics panel. The results from each group of voters will count for one quarter of the athlete’s final score.

Golden Tracks trophies will be awarded for the first time to winners at a televised gala evening in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday October 11.

In creating the list of nominees for the male and female European athletes of the year awards, the panel paid most attention to honours won in 2014 and precedence was given to those who claimed gold at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich.

Farah again did the distance double in Switzerland, adding European 5000m and 10,000m gold to his Olympic and world titles, despite having struggled with illness in 2014. The 31-year-old also ran a European-leading marathon time of 2:08:21 when making his debut over 26.2 miles in London in April.

Fellow British athletes Rutherford and Martyn Rooney join Farah in being nominated, Rutherford having leapt a world-leading British long jump record of 8.51m in April before winning both European and Commonwealth titles and Rooney being another to claim two European medals in Zurich as he won the 400m and anchored Great Britain to the 4x400m title.

Bondarenko features on the list in what has been an incredible year for the men’s high jump, while David Storl, Renaud Lavillenie and Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad – who continued his controversial ways in Zurich – are also among those nominated.

Child won European 400m hurdles gold, having earlier run a European-leading time at the Glasgow Diamond League and claimed Commonwealth silver. Other nominees include Wlodarczyk, who regained the title of hammer world record-holder following her throw of 79.58m in Berlin and won European gold, and Schippers, who did the 100m and 200m double in Zurich despite still focusing on the heptathlon.

Gemili, Belocian, Asher-Smith and Johnson-Thompson are joined on the rising stars lists by the likes of Ali Kaya, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Anezka Drahotova, Mariya Kuchina and Morgan Lake.

Fans can place their votes through the European Athletics Facebook page, while media and Member Federation votes should be cast via the governing body’s website.

Voting will close at midday CET on Friday October 3, 2014.

Nominees for Golden Tracks award for male and female European athletes of the year

Men

Antti Ruuskanen, FIN (javelin)
Adam Kszczot, POL (800m)
Andrei Krauchanka, BLR (decathlon)
Bohdan Bondarenko, UKR (high jump)
David Storl, GER (shot put)
Greg Rutherford, GBR (long jump)
Kristzian Pars, HUN (hammer)
Martyn Rooney, GBR (400m)
Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, FRA (1500m/3000m steeplechase)
Mo Farah, GBR (long distance)
Renaud Lavillenie, FRA (pole vault)
Yohann Diniz FRA, (50km walk)

Women

Anita Wlodarczyk, POL (hammer)
Barbora Spotakova, CZE (javelin)
Christelle Daunay, FRA (road running)
Christina Schwanitz, GER (shot put)
Dafne Schippers, NED (sprints)
Eilidh Child, GBR (400m hurdles)
Libania Grenot, ITA (400m)
Marina Arzamasova, BLR (800m)
Olha Saladukha UKR (triple jump)
Ruth Beitia, ESP (high jump)
Sandra Perkovic, CRO (discus)
Sifan Hassan, NED (1500m)

Nominees for Golden Tracks award for male and female European rising stars

Men

Adam Gemili, GBR (sprints)
Aleksandr Ivanov, RUS (20km walk)
Alex Chappelle, FRA (pole vault)
Ali Kaya, TUR (long distance)
Anatoliy Ryapolov, RUS (long jump)
Bence Halasz, HUN (hammer)
Danyil Lysenko, RUS (high jump)
Jiri Sykora, CZE (decathlon)
Konrad Bukowiecki, POL (shot put)
Matthew Hudson-Smith, GBR (400m)
Martin Markovic, CRO (discus)
Wilhem Belocian, FRA (110m hurdles)

Women

Alena Bugakova, RUS (shot put)
Alena Lutkovskaya, RUS (pole vault)
Alyona Shamotina, UKR (hammer)
Anezka Drahotova, CZE (walks)
Angelica Moser, SUI (pole vault)
Dina Asher-Smith, GBR (sprints)
Hanna Tarasyuk, BLR (javelin)
Katarina Johnson-Thompson, GBR (long jump/heptathlon)
Mariya Kuchina, RUS (high jump)
Morgan Lake, GBR (high jump/heptathlon)
Rouguy Diallo, FRA (triple jump)
Shanice Craft, GER (discus)

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