# European Athlete of the Year

The European Athlete of the Year award is an annual prize for sportspeople from Europe participating in athletics, including track and field, road running, and cross country running competitions. The election has been organised by the European Athletic Association (EAA), the European governing body for the sport of athletics, 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. 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.
In 2007, a separate European Athletics Rising Star of the Year award was established for athletes under 23 years of age as a way of acknowledging young competitors' achievements on their way to becoming senior athletes.
Both awards are presented during the annual Golden Tracks gala of the EEA. Waterford Crystal sponsored the event from 2002–2008 and Mondo, a manufacturer of track and field equipment and facilities, sponsored the 2009 presentation.

## Winner statistics

Long-distance runner 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 with his Swedish rival Christian Olsson, Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm, Norwegian middle/long-distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis have won the men's award twice, while Sweden's heptathlete Carolina Klüft, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlašić, Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers, and Dutch sprinter/hurdler Femke Bol have won the women's award twice each.
Warholm, Ingebrigtsen, Duplantis and Bol have each completed the triple of the Rising Star award, followed by two senior awards. Three athletes have completed the double of the Rising Star trophy followed by the senior award: sprinter Christophe Lemaitre of France, Great Britain's heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill and Ukrainian's high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh.
For the first time in award history, the men’s European Athlete of the Year trophy in 2022 was awarded jointly to Duplantis and Ingebrigtsen who both won three major gold medals and revised the record books in 2022. Duplantis and Ingebrigtsen were also jointly named men’s Rising Star in 2018, a first in the award history too.
Carolina Klüft and Christophe Lemaitre were the youngest European Athletes of the Year so far. They were only 20 when winning this accolade in 2003 and 2010 respectively.

## Athlete of the Year winners

European Athlete of the Year winners :
| Year | Men | Women |
| 1993 | Linford Christie | Sally Gunnell |
| 1994 | Colin Jackson | Irina Privalova |
| 1995 | Jonathan Edwards (1/2) | Sonia O'Sullivan |
| 1996 | Jan Železný (1/2) | Svetlana Masterkova |
| 1997 | Wilson Kipketer | Astrid Kumbernuss |
| 1998 | Jonathan Edwards (2/2) | Christine Arron |
| 1999 | Tomáš Dvořák | Gabriela Szabo |
| 2000 | Jan Železný (2/2) | Trine Hattestad |
| 2001 | André Bucher | Stephanie Graf |
| 2002 | Dwain Chambers | Süreyya Ayhan |
| 2003 | Christian Olsson (1/2) | Carolina Klüft (1/2) |
| 2004 | Christian Olsson (2/2) | Kelly Holmes |
| 2005 | Virgilijus Alekna | Yelena Isinbayeva (1/2) |
| 2006 | Francis Obikwelu | Carolina Klüft (2/2) |
| 2007 | Tero Pitkämäki | Blanka Vlašić (1/2) |
| 2008 | Andreas Thorkildsen | Yelena Isinbayeva (2/2) |
| 2009 | Phillips Idowu | Marta Domínguez |
| 2010 | Christophe Lemaitre | Blanka Vlašić (2/2) |
| 2011 | Mo Farah (1/3) | Mariya Savinova |
| 2012 | Mo Farah (2/3) | Jessica Ennis |
| 2013 | Bohdan Bondarenko | Zuzana Hejnová |
| 2014 | Renaud Lavillenie | Dafne Schippers (1/2) |
| 2015 | Greg Rutherford | Dafne Schippers (2/2) |
| 2016 | Mo Farah (3/3) | Ruth Beitia |
| 2017 | Johannes Vetter | Katerina Stefanidi |
| 2018 | Kevin Mayer | Dina Asher-Smith |
| 2019 | Karsten Warholm (1/2) | Mariya Lasitskene |
| 2020 | not awarded | not awarded |
| 2021 | Karsten Warholm (2/2) | Sifan Hassan |
| 2022 | Armand Duplantis(1/2) | Femke Bol (1/2) |
| 2022 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1/2) | Femke Bol (1/2) |
| 2023 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (2/2) | Femke Bol (2/2) |
| 2024 | Armand Duplantis (2/2) | Yaroslava Mahuchikh |

## Rising Star of the Year winners

European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners :
| Year | Men | Women |
| 2007 | Andrew Howe | Jessica Ennis |
| 2008 | Raphael Holzdeppe | Stephanie Twell |
| 2009 | Christophe Lemaitre | Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal |
| 2010 | Teddy Tamgho | Sandra Perković |
| 2011 | David Storl | Jodie Williams |
| 2012 | Pavel Maslák | Angelica Bengtsson |
| 2013 | Emir Bekrić | Aníta Hinriksdóttir |
| 2014 | Adam Gemili | Mariya Kuchina |
| 2015 | Konrad Bukowiecki | Noemi Zbären |
| 2016 | Max Heß | Nafissatou Thiam |
| 2017 | Karsten Warholm | Yuliya Levchenko |
| 2018 | Armand Duplantis | Elvira Herman |
| 2018 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen | Elvira Herman |
| 2019 | Niklas Kaul | Yaroslava Mahuchikh |
| 2020 | not awarded | not awarded |
| 2021 | Sasha Zhoya | Femke Bol |
| 2022 | Mykolas Alekna | Elina Tzengko |
| 2023 | Mattia Furlani | Angelina Topić |
| 2024 | Niels Laros | Adriana Vilagoš |