We can reveal the three men's European Athlete of the Year finalists ahead of the Golden Tracks are Sweden's Armand Duplantis, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou.
The winner will be announced and presented with their trophy on-stage at the annual Golden Tracks award ceremony in Tallinn, Estonia on 22 October. The ceremony will be streamed live through the European Athletics website and YouTube channel.
The 2019 and 2021 winner was Norway's world 400m hurdles record-holder Karsten Warholm from Norway.
Armand Duplantis (SWE) | Profile
Year in summary:
After 54 tries, Armand Duplantis improved his world record with a 6.19m clearance indoors in Belgrade in early March, just one in a series of record-breaking performances in a truly exemplary season for the Swedish superstar.
After setting a very high standard thanks to his achievements in 2020 and 2021, Duplantis’ most recent season was even better based on all metrics. After scaling 6.19m in Belgrade, Duplantis revised his record to 6.20m in the same city two weeks later at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
In damp conditions, Duplantis achieved a world outdoor best of 6.16m on home soil in Stockholm, a sneak peak of what was to follow at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon where he soared over his third world record of the season - and the fifth of his career - with a 6.21m clearance. A closer analysis of that vault revealed Duplantis cleared the bar by 8.2 centimetres.
A month after completing the set of major titles in the pole vault, Duplantis successfully defended the first of his titles at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, ameliorating his championship record to 6.06m on a rainy and unseasonably cool evening.
What they said:
On what it felt like to clear a world outdoor best of 6.16m in Stockholm: “It is hard to describe it really. You kind of black out out there. I just remember I was trying to focus really hard to not hit the bar. And once when I did, I was over the bar and then I just started to run like an idiot. I think it was good timing.”
Key statistic:
From his 19 competitions indoors and outdoors, Duplantis cleared 6.00m or higher in no fewer than 16 of them.
Armand in action:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | Profile
Year in summary:
Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen completed the set of major titles this year at the age of 21 but surprisingly not in his primary event.
After a surprise defeat to Great Britain’s Jake Wightman in the 1500m at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, Ingebrigtsen redoubled his efforts and kicked to victory in a tactical 5000m final on the last day of the championships.
And that was followed by two more gold medals at the European Athletics Championships in Munich. Four years after bursting onto the scene by winning the 1500m and 5000m on back-to-back nights in Berlin, Ingebrigtsen defended both titles in masterful fashion to bring his European senior title haul up to eight and counting.
After a sit-and-kick victory in the 5000m in 13:21.13, Ingebrigtsen won the 1500m in near gun-to-tape fashion and was rewarded with a championship record of 3:32.76 and a winning margin that stretched out to almost two seconds.
Ingebrigtsen also set the first world record of his career indoors in Lievin where he became the first athlete to break the 3:31-barrier in the 1500m with a 3:30.60 clocking.
What they said:
On rebounding from 1500m silver to win 5000m gold in Oregon: "I have been very very disappointed even though I got the silver medal. But within myself, I know that I could have done better so that was the reason why I was disappointed with myself - I have been thinking a lot towards this race [the 5000m] to prepare myself in the best way possible and finally, I am a world champion."
Key statistic:
Ingebrigtsen broke the 3:30-barrier in the 1500m three times in 2022, bringing his career total up to seven. He clocked 3:29.47 at the World Athletics Championships and set world leads of 3:29.05 and 3:29.02 in Lausanne and Zurich respectively.
Jakob in action:
Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE)
Year in summary:
Miltiadis Tentoglou has further enhanced his reputation for performing at his very best in the major events this season.
Tentoglou produced the world’s longest jump indoors in more than a decade to win the world indoor title in Belgrade with 8.55m, a mark which elevates the Greek to sixth on the world indoor all-time list ahead of the likes of Robert Emmiyan (8.49m), Juan Miguel Echevarria (8.46m) and Mike Powell (8.44m).
The 24-year-old was on the cusp of completing the full set of major titles at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon before he was denied in the last round by China’s Wang Jianen but the Greek rediscovered his Midas touch at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, regaining his title with a championship record and world leading mark of 8.52m.
What they said:
On being extra motivated after winning Olympic gold in Tokyo: “I try to stay calm. After Olympic gold, some people are satisfied with what they did and slow down a little, but I didn’t. I trained harder to build better results.”
Key statistic:
Five of Tentoglou's longest jumps have been achieved in Greek colours. His winning jump of 8.55m at the World Indoor Championships was the second longest jump of his career and his 8.52m at the European Athletics Championships in Munich was his third longest career jump.