There were two first-time winners in November as Portugal’s Mariana Machado and Spain’s Ouassim Oumaiz were both voted European Athletes of the Month for November 2019.
Still a junior, Machado came to note last month with victory in the senior women’s race at the Cross Internacional de Soria where she outkicked Bahrain’s world marathon silver medallist Rose Chelimo over the 8km course.
Machado tallied 5620 votes across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram ahead of fellow nominees Anna Emilie Moller from Denmark and Great Britain’s Jess Piasecki.
On the men’s side, Oumaiz tallied 3520 votes ahead of Mike Foppen from the Netherlands and Isaac Kimeli from Belgium.
After missing the entirety of the track campaign due to a stress fracture, Oumaiz returned to competition with an excellent win ahead of a strong international contingent at the Cross Internacional de Atapuerca.
Oumaiz won over 9km ahead of a field which included four top-10 finishers from the World Cross Country Championships to become the first Spanish winner of this race since 2009.
The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in 2007 and three male and five female athletes have been nominated based purely on their performances in the previous month. No athlete who has served a doping ban of two years or longer can be nominated for the award.
Men’s voting
Ouassim Oumaiz (ESP) 3520 votesMike Foppen (NED) 2708
Isaac Kimeli (BEL) 2578
Women’s voting
Mariana Machado (POR) 5620 votesAnna Emilie Moller (DEN) 3198
Jess Piasecki (GBR) 2772