European Athletics is pleased to announce that Spain’s Eusebio Caceres and Poland's Kamila Licwinko have been voted by the fans and media as European Athletes of the Month for January.
Caceres, the 2013 European Athletics under-23 long jump champion, flew out to a world-leading mark and indoor best of 8.16m to win at the Karlsruhe meeting in Germany on 31 January.
Watch his world-leading jump below:
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Second in the men's vote was Poland's Konrad Bukowiecki who set a shot put world junior indoor record of 22.38m on home soil in Torun on 24 January. This prodigiously talented 17-year-old, who won gold medals at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and IAAF World Junior Championships is one of Europe's biggest rising stars and will undoubtedly continue to improve.
In third was another Polish athlete in Adam Kszczot, the two-time European Athletics Indoor Championships 800m gold medallist ran a world-leading 1:46.48 to win for the fourth successive year at the European Athletics Indoor Permit Meeting in the German city of Düsseldorf of 29 January. He then followed up this performance with another win in Torun a few days later.
See Kszczot's stellar run in Düsseldorf:
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On the women’s side, the award went to Licwinko, the 28-year-old 2014 world indoor champion went over a world-leading height of 2.00m equalling her own national record at a high quality competition in the German city of Cottbus on 27 January.
In second place was France's Marion Fiack who surprised most when she went over what was a world-leading height and national record of 4.71m on home turf in Aubière on 10 January. Still only 22, Fiack could challenge for the title in Prague if she's able to reproduce this kind of performance when in matters most.
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In third was Ukraines' Tetyana Gamera-Shmyrko, the 31-year-old runner won at the Osaka Women’s Marathon in a national record time of 2:22.09 on 25 January, reducing the previous national record by well over a minute and almost two minutes off her own previous best.
The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe.
No athlete who has previously served a two-year doping ban can be nominated for the European Athlete of the Month.