Finalists confirmed for 2026 European Athlete of the Year awards
by 5th October 2026
The finalists have been confirmed for the 2026 European Athlete of the Year and Rising Star awards, with the winners to be crowned at the Golden Tracks awards in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 October.
Three athletes remain in contention in each of the four categories following a voting process involving fans, European Athletics Member Federations, media and an expert panel.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou are the finalists for the men’s European Athlete of the Year award after another outstanding season for Europe’s leading jumpers.
Duplantis won the world indoor, European and Ultimate Championship titles during a season in which he also raised his pole vault world record to 6.31m.
Tamberi claimed his fourth European high jump title in Birmingham before winning the Ultimate Championship with a world-leading 2.37m, while Tentoglou retained his European long jump crown and also won the Ultimate Championship, finishing the year with a world-leading 8.66m.
Duplantis is the only one of this year’s 12 finalists to have previously won the senior European Athlete of the Year award. He shared the men’s honour with Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 2022 before winning outright in both 2024 and 2025.
The Swede’s Golden Tracks history stretches back even further, having also shared the men’s Rising Star award with Ingebrigtsen in 2018.
Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, Great Britain’s Amy Hunt and Switzerland’s Audrey Werro make up the women’s European Athlete of the Year shortlist.
Battocletti won the world indoor 3000m title before successfully defending both her 5000m and 10,000m European titles in Birmingham, while Hunt enjoyed a spectacular European Championships, winning four gold medals across the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and mixed 4x100m.
Werro was unbeaten outdoors in a brilliant 800m campaign, winning the European, Diamond League and Ultimate Championship titles and lowering her personal best to 1:53.70. The Swiss athlete is already a Golden Tracks winner after collecting the women’s Rising Star award in 2025.
The men’s Rising Star finalists are Italy’s Daniele Inzoli, Great Britain’s Samuel James and Czechia’s Michal Rada.
Inzoli won the world U20 long jump title in Eugene, James produced a stunning 2.25m championship record to win European U18 high jump gold in Rieti, and Rada added the world U20 400m hurdles title to his European age-group honours with a European U20 record of 48.59.
Bulgaria’s Viktoria Angelova, Czechia’s Linda Botková and Slovenia’s Živa Remic are the three finalists for the women’s Rising Star award.
Angelova won European U18 and world U20 triple jump titles, Botková broke the European U20 400m hurdles record on her way to European U18 gold, and Remic completed a superb championship double by winning the European U18 and world U20 800m titles.
More than 40,000 votes were cast across the four award categories, with the public vote accounting for 25 per cent of the final result alongside votes from European Athletics Member Federations, media and an expert panel.
The winners of all four awards will be revealed at the Golden Tracks awards in Lausanne on 24 October.
2026 Golden Tracks finalists
Men’s European Athlete of the Year: Armand Duplantis (SWE), Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA), Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE)
Women’s European Athlete of the Year: Nadia Battocletti (ITA), Amy Hunt (GBR), Audrey Werro (SUI)
Men’s Rising Star: Daniele Inzoli (ITA), Samuel James (GBR), Michal Rada (CZE)
Women’s Rising Star: Viktoria Angelova (BUL), Linda Botková (CZE), Živa Remic (SLO)