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December 2009
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Arise Idowu, Domínguez, Lemaître, Grřvdal! Star athletes honoured at European Athletics Awards Night |
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18.10.2009 |
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| The 2009 European Athlete of the Year and Rising Star Award winners (from left) Marta Domínguez, Christophe Lemaître, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal and Phillips Idowu with European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz (far right) and MONDO Export Director Andrea Vallauri at the European Athletics Awards Night in Budapest on Saturday. |
Briton Phillips Idowu and Marta Domínguez of Spain were presented with the 2009 European Athlete of the Year Awards at a glittering ceremony during the second European Athletics Convention in the Hungarian capital city of Budapest on Saturday night.
Click here to view the Awards Night video highlights
French sprint sensation and European junior 100m champion Christophe Lemaître and middle-distance sensation Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal of Norway were given the European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Awards at a gala dinner during the European Athletics Awards Night presented by MONDO organised at the historic Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest.
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Phillips Idowu of Great Britain receives the European
Athlete of the Year trophy from European Athletics
President Hansjörg Wirz.
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"It means so much to me to win this award. I was on holiday when I heard and it was great news," said Triple Jump world champion Idowu, while addressing the media at the official press conference in Kempinski Hotel on Saturday afternoon.
At this year's IAAF World Championships in Berlin the 30-year-old Londoner shrugged off memories of a disappointing silver at the Beijing Olympic Games to take the title with a world-leading and personal best jump of 17.73m.
"I never want to retire! I'm aiming for the Olympic Games in London in 2012," said Idowu who followed onto the footsteps of his illustrious compatriots Colin Jackson, Linford Christie and Jonathan Edwards, one of Idowu's predecessors as Triple Jump world champion, by winning the European Athlete of the Year Award.
The 3000m steeplechase world champion Domínguez attributed her award to all those who helped her achieve the biggest moment of her career.
"It is a tribute not only to me but to everyone who has helped me throughout the years," said the 34-year-old from Palencia in Spain.
After three Olympic Games and five World Championships, two European golds and a stack of minor medals, Domínguez finally picked up a global gold in the steeplechase in Berlin.
"It was great to win the gold in Berlin and this award has only made it sweeter. I am ecstatic," she added.
Frenchman Lemaître produced a blistering run to win the 100m gold at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Novi Sad in a European junior record time of 10.04 seconds, beating Dwain Chambers' record of 10.06.
"I am very happy to have been chosen as European Athletics Rising Star and it was a real surprise for me. There are many great young athletes and I am really pleased to be the one to receive this award," said Lemaître.
The 19-year-old is already setting his sights on next year's European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.
"Ideally, I would run under 10 seconds next year but I know I would have to train very hard," he said.
Grøvdal claimed an outstanding 3000m steeplechase and 5000m double triumph at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Novi Sad and has consolidated her status as a star in the making.
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Thórdís Lilja Gísladóttir of Iceland, winner of the
first-ever European Athletics Women's Leadership
Award, addresses the gathering.
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"It just feels brilliant to win this award. It makes me feel very special and I want to thank everyone who voted for me," said the 19-year-old from Molde.
"When I won in Novi Sad it was very hot but after a while I got used to it," she added.
"My aims for next year are to compete in Bergen at the SPAR European Team Championships and then the big one at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona," said Grøvdal.
The conference received wide media coverage with the huge presence of international and local press, photographers and broadcast journalists.
Thórdís Lilja Gísladóttir of Iceland was presented with the first-ever European Athletics Women's Leadership Award. Gísladóttir, an Assistant Professor at Reykjavik University who is also a club coach, was selected by an international jury to represent 24 national winners at the European Athletics Awards Night.
The Awards Night dinner brought down the curtain on the three-day European Athletics Convention, where key decision makers in international athletics gathered under one roof to brainstorm over the future of the sport in the continent.
The convention programme was designed to expand the original European Athletics Calendar Conference into an annual meeting point for European Athletic Member Federations offering additional opportunities for education, networking and socialising.
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