Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko and Czech Republic’s Zuzana Hejnová were named European Athletes of the Year on Saturday at the European Athletics Awards Night in Tallinn, Estonia.
Serbia’s Emir Bekrić and Iceland’s Anita Hinriksdottir claimed the European Athletics Rising Star Awards.
With the European Athletics Awards Night being shown live on television for the first time in history and streamed live across the world, all four athletes were present to collect their prizes in a glittering ceremony at the Seaplane Harbour.
High jumper Bondarenko, 24, was voted the men’s winner after a season where he won at the 2013 IAAF World Championships and also the Diamond Race. His 2.41m jumps at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, and also in Moscow, were the best in the world for 19 years.
The 26-year-old Hejnová, specialist in the 400m hurdles, won all 13 of her races during 2013, including her heat and semi-final before triumphing at the IAAF World Championships, and also at all seven IAAF Diamond League meetings.
Bekrić, 22, won at the European Athletics U23 Championships and then finished third at the IAAF World Championships in a national record of 48.05, the second fastest European U23 time ever.
The 17-year-old Hinriksdottir, was a winner at both the IAAF World Youth Championships, where she set a championship record, and the European Athletics Junior Championships.
Along with live television coverage on Estonian Television, the Awards Night was also scheduled to be shown live on Icelandic Television, Czech Television and Serbian Television. Relive the Awards Night by clicking here.
More than 16,000 fans voted on the European Athlete of the Year and Rising Star Awards at www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics, while 163 members of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS) from 54 countries also voted through www.aipsmedia.com.
The winning athletes were decided by counting votes from the fans, media, European Athletics Member Federations as well as an expert European Athletics panel, with the results from each group of voters counting for one quarter of the athlete's final score.
Also on Saturday evening, 22 winners nominated by their national federations were recognised on the occasion of the third edition of the Women’s Leadership Awards.
Two representatives of all the winners, Mirjana Stojanovic of Serbia, who was selected in a draw to be a representative, and Eva Kuningas of Estonia, were the first to receive their awards.
The first 2013 European Athletics Coaching Awards, which recognise the invaluable contributions made by coaches at all levels to the sport of athletics, were also presented to representatives of all the winners.
Bo Berndtsson of Norway, selected by a draw, and Toomas Merila and Milvi Viss of Estonia were presented with their awards.
Men’s 2013 European Athlete of the Year Top 3
1. Bohdan Bondarenko (UKR)
2. Mo Farah (GBR)
3. Pawel Fajdek (POL)
Women’s 2013 European Athlete of the Year Top 3
1. Zuzana Hejnová (CZE)
2. Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)
3. Valeria Straneo (ITA)
Men's 2013 European Athletics Rising Star Top 3
1. Emir Bekrić (SRB)
2. Adam Gemili (GBR)
3. Karsten Warholm (NOR)
Women's 2013 Rising Star Top 3
1. Anita Hinriksdottir (ISL)
2. Dafne Schippers (NED)
3. Amela Terzic (SRB)
A recording of the Awards Night is available here.