European Athletics can announce the three finalists for the men’s Rising Star award ahead of the Golden Tracks awards night which will be held in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia on 26 October and streamed on the European Athletics YouTube channel.
From a long-list of 10 athletes, the three finalists were decided based on a four-part voting process with a public vote, a Member Federation vote, a media vote and a European Athletics expert panel vote each accounting for one-quarter of the overall vote.
Last year’s winner was Italy’s Mattia Furlani who went on to win silver medals in the long jump at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as well as on home soil at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships, breaking the a world U20 record with 8.38m in the Stadio Olimpico.
In alphabetical order, the three men’s Rising Star finalists for 2024 are:
Tomas Jarvinen (CZE)
- World U20 decathlon champion
- World U20 decathlon leader with 8425 points
- Second on world U20 decathlon all-time list
Jarvinen continued the excellent Czech tradition in the decathlon with his dominant victory at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima.
The 18-year-old led the decathlon from start to finish and tallied a score of 8425 points to move to second on the world U20 all-time list and just 10 points behind German Niklas Kaul’s world U20 record which dates back to 2016.
Incidentally, Kaul was crowned men’s Rising Star in 2019 after winning world decathlon gold in Doha at the age of 21. Will Jarvinen follow in his footsteps and be crowned men’s Rising Star in Skopje later this month?
@: SportMedia.es
Iosif Kesidis (CYP)
- World U20 hammer champion
- World U20 hammer (6kg) leader with 82.80m
Kesidis delivered a hammer throwing clinic at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, culminating in a historic performance as the 19-year-old won Cyprus’ first ever gold medal in the 38-year history of the championships.
Could Kesidis create further history for his country and become the first Cypriot to be crowned either Rising Star or European Athlete of the Year at the Golden Tracks in Skopje?
Kesidis was one of the most dominant victors at the World U20 Championships in Lima, winning the hammer title by over seven metres with a lifetime best and national U20 record of 82.80m with the six kilogram implement. However, any throw in his series in Lima would have sufficed for the title.
@: SportMedia.es
Niels Laros (NED)
- Olympic 1500m sixth-placer
- World U20 1000m record with 2:14.37
- European U20 1500m record with 3:29.54
Niels Laros has raced sparingly this year but the 19-year-old amassed another excellent season to embellish his status as one of the most exciting and promising middle distance prospects.
Laros began his summer campaign in earnest by winning the 1000m on home soil at the FBK Games in Hengelo in a world U20 record of 2:14.37 before finishing sixth in the Olympic 1500m final in 3:29.54 to break a certain Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s European U20 1500m record of 3:30.16.
This is the third year in a row that Laros has been a men’s Rising Star finalist at the Golden Tracks. Will it be third time lucky for the Dutch teenager in Skopje later this month? And if he does win, Laros will become the first Dutch athlete in award history - male or female - to be crowned Rising Star. 
Last 10 men's Rising Star winners
- 2023 - Mattia Furlani (ITA)
- 2022 - Mykolas Alekna (LTU)
- 2021 - Sasha Zhoya (FRA)
- 2020 - not held
- 2019 - Niklas Kaul (GER)
- 2018 - Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) and Armand Duplantis (SWE)
- 2017 - Karsten Warholm (NOR)
- 2016 - Max Hess (GER)
- 2015 - Konrad Bukowiecki (POL)
- 2014 - Adam Gemili (GBR)
- 2013 - Emir Bekric (SRB)
The women’s and men’s European Athlete of the Year finalists will be announced tomorrow.
Steven Mills for European Athletics