The year isn’t over yet, but the European Athletics Association has already handed out its trophies for 2023. The Netherlands’ Femke Bol (400 m and 400 m hurdles) and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1,500, 2,000 and 5,000 m) were awarded the title of European Athletes of the Year at the Golden Tracks evening held in Vilnius, Lithuania. The two athletes won two gold medals at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, before going on to raid the World Outdoor Championships in Budapest. Femke Bol took the world title in the 400m hurdles, then led the Netherlands to victory in the 4x400m final. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, meanwhile, won the 5,000m and took second place in the 1,500m. The Dutchwoman was nominated alongside Spain’s Maria Perez, double world champion in the market, and Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, world gold medallist in the high jump. Jakob Ingebrigtsen beat Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis and Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou. The Rising Star of the Year awards went to Serbian high jumper Angelina Topic and Italian long jumper Mattia Furlani.
