9th October 2012 02:23
Announcing the award, Dr Sylvia Barlag, European Athletics Council member and the chair of the awards jury, said 'I want to congratulate Charlotte and her team for an exciting project, which shows yet another way that athletics can add value to people's lives'.
'The jury was impressed that the project creatively addressed a fundamental need of the sport - volunteers to run its organisations and events – and that it integrated with European Athletics' online community for young volunteers. Norway now has a tool to prepare young people for leadership roles in the country's athletics clubs and give them valuable skills for other walks of life.'
'Our recognition through this award signifies that we believe the model can and should be used by other federations.'
Mrs Svensen's award and a cash prize of CHF 10,000 will be presented at the European Athletics Awards Night in St Julians, Malta, on 13 October.
This year's contest, the eighth edition of the biennial competition, attracted a record 46 entry files by authors from 21 countries.
Judging in five categories was conducted by an international panel of expert. The evaluation criteria were 'quality' and 'relevance to athletics'.
The previously announced category winners were:
Coaching – 'New Insights Into Sprint Biomechanics and Determinants of Elite 100m Performance' by Jean-Benoit Morin (FRA), Pierre Samozino (FRA), Pascal Edouard (FRA)
Technology - 'Automatic Race Start Detecting Signal for Hearing Impaired Athletes' by Valentín Rocandio (ESP), Antonio Cid (ESP)
Sustainability – 'Introducing, Developing, and Implementing of Sustainability Projects in Athletic Club Velenje' by Luka Steiner (SLO)
Promotion (joint 1st place) - 'Improving Competition Organisation Using Web Application' by Michele Fortunato (ITA) and 'Young Leader - To Create the Volunteers of Tomorrow' by Charlotte Svensen (NOR)
Open Category – 'Running with Poles: An Efficient Training Method Eliminating Overstraining of Athlete's Feet' by Aleš Tvrzník (CZE), Milan K…¯tek (CZE).
The panel also recognised a total of 23 projects with certificates of Honourable Mention.
'On behalf of European Athletics, I want to thank all those who invested their time and effort to make athletics better by entering projects, especially the young people,' said Dr Barlag. 'It was a real challenge for the panel to pick the winner in most categories as both the number and overall quality of the entries were outstanding.'
'We are proud that the awards competition has continued to grow in credibility and importance.'
In addition to Mrs Svensen, two other category winners - Mr Steiner and Mr Fortunato – developed their projects in the context of the European Athletics-UNESCO Young Leaders Community. For more information on the community click here.
The European Athletics Innovation Awards were created in 1998 to encourage research and the sharing of new ideas leading to the promotion and development of the sport of athletics.
The competition is open to any European working in or otherwise associated with athletics, including sport scientists, academics, coaches and students. The ninth edition of the awards will be in 2014.