Baku, October 12 (AzerTAc). France’s Renaud Lavillenie and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands were named European Athletes of the Year at the Golden Tracks awards ceremony in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday evening.
Great Britain’s Adam Gemili and Russia’s Mariya Kuchina claimed the European Athletics Rising Star awards.
With the Golden Tracks being shown live on television and streamed live across the world, all four athletes were present to collect their trophies in a glittering ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in the iconic Flame Towers.
Pole vaulter Lavillenie, 28, was voted the men’s winner after a season where he was crowned for the third consecutive time at the 2014 European Athletics Championships and also broke Sergey Bubka’s world record which now stands at an impressive 6.16m.
Speaking as he received the trophy from European Athletics President Hansjorg Wirz, and with Bubka as a guest in the audience, Lavillenie, 28, said: “This year is something I cannot forget. It was like a dream for many years (to break the world record) and nobody was expected to do it.
“This winter was crazy for me and after that, my main motivation was to stay at the top and Zurich was very important. It was one of the best years I have ever known and I will try to make next year even better!
“In Zurich, the conditions were not easy. There was a lot of pressure on me, the pole vault can be random but I was happy to take the win.” more
