May was a very busy month for top level athletics events with the IAAF World Race Walking Cup, IAAF World Relays, three IAAF Diamond League meetings, five European Athletics permit meetings and the European Champion Clubs Cup Track and Field competitions.
All of them saw considerable successes by European athletes.
Consequently, European Athletics is pleased to announce that athletes from 12 different countries have been nominated for the May award of European Athlete of the Month.
At the end of each month, a panel of experts produces a short list of the outstanding athletes and performances achieved by European athletes during that month, which is then mailed to the European athletics media and thousands of fans who have signed up to receive news from European Athletics.
The European Athlete of the Month fan voting takes place through our Facebook page, while members of the media can cast their vote on our website.
Fans are also able to vote through the European Athletics mobile applications on iPhone and Android phones.
The public, media and a group of expert statisticians cast their votes for the European Athlete of the Month with each category counting as 33.3 per cent of the vote.
For example, the winner of each poll will be awarded 10 points, second 9 points, etc. and the athlete with the most points after the three different polls have been counted will be declared the winner.
In the unlikely event of a tie, Hansjörg Wirz, the president of European Athletics, will have the casting vote.
The voting will close on Monday 16 June at noon CET.
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.
MEN
Aleksandr Lesnoy RUS (shot put): the 2013 World University Games champion and 2014 European Cup Winter Throwing winner improved his personal best to a European-leading 21.40m when winning at the Russian Team Championships in Adler on 30 May.
Christian Reif GER (long jump): the 2010 European champion returned to form with a personal best of 8.49m on home soil in Weinheim on 31 May, improving his previous best by two centimetres set when winning his continental title in Barcelona four years ago.
Ivan Ukhov RUS (high jump): the London 2012 Olympic Games champion continued his stellar 2014 form by going over a world-leading height of 2.41m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha on 9 May in one of the best competitions ever seen in this event.
Jimmy Vicaut FRA (100m): the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships 60m gold medallist sped to a time of 9.95 in Aix-le-Bains on 18 May, the fastest time of the year by a European, and he also had a wind-assisted time 9.89 in Eugene on 31 May.
Lyukman Adams RUS (triple jump): the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medallist bounded out to a European-leading 17.29m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 31 May and won his outdoor opener in Shanghai earlier in May.
Mikhail Ryzhov RUS (50km walk): the 22-year-old 2013 IAAF World Championships silver medallist pulled off the biggest win of his career when he won at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in the Chinese city of Taicang with a world-leading time of 3:39.05 on 3 May.
Pavel Maslak CZE (400m): the 2012 European champion and 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medallist clocked a national record and European-leading time of 44.79 in his first outdoor race at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha on 9 May.
Pawel Fadjek POL (hammer):the 2013 IAAF World Championships gold medallist won all three of his official competitions during May including at the famous throws meeting in the German town of Halle where he threw a European-leading distance of 79.59m on 17 May.
Pascal Martinot-Lagarde FRA (110m hurdles): the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships silver medallist ran 13.26 in Shanghai on 18 May and then won in a world-leading time of 13.13 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 31 May.
Piotr Malachowski POL (discus): the 2013 IAAF World Championships silver medallist won at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha on 9 May and then threw a world-leading 69.28m to beat a world-class field including Robert Harting in Halle, Germany, on 17 May.
Renaud Lavillenie FRA (pole vault): the 2012 Olympic and European champion won at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Shanghai and Eugene during the month, clearing an outdoor world-leading 5.92m in China, and remains unbeaten in 2014 with nine wins.
Ruslan Dmytrenko UKR (20km walk): after finishing fourth at the last IAAF World Race Walking Cup in 2012, this time he won in fine style in the Chinese city of Taicang and took the honours in a national record and European-leading time of 1:18.37 on 4 May.
WOMEN
Abeba Aregawi SWE (1500m): the 2013 IAAF World Championships and 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medallist ran a European-leading time of 3:57.57 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 31 May, the third fastest time of her career.
Anisya Kirdyapkina RUS (20km walk): the 2013 IAAF World Championships silver medallist triumphed on the global stage with a victory at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in the Chinese city of Taicang crossing the line in a world-leading time of 1:26.31 on 3 May.
Anna Chicherova RUS (high jump): the London 2012 Olympic Games champion was the first women to clear two metres or better this summer went she went over 2.01m to win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 31 May.
Christina Schwanitz GER (shot put): the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships gold medallist threw a European-leading 20.22m twice for wins in May, on home soil in Halle on 17 May and then four days later at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing.
Dafne Schippers NED (200m/heptathlon): the flying Dutchwomen blasted her way to a national record and European-leading time of 22.35 at the multi-events meeting in the Austrian town of Gotzis on 31 May. Only one women has ever gone faster in a heptathlon.
Darya Klishina RUS (long jump): three European women reached the world-leading distance of 6.88m in May but the two-time European indoor champion actually did it at two meetings; in Eugene on 30 May it was with the least wind assistance of the four jumps.
Ivet Lalova BUL (100m): the 2012 European champion ran a European-leading time of 11.10 in Gavardo, Italy, on 18 May and also notched up a 100m/200m double in difficult conditions at the European Champion Clubs Cup Track and Field Group A meeting.
Martina Ratej SLO (javelin): bounced back from some disappointing competitions in the last 12 months, including failing to make the 2013 IAAF World Championships final, to win at the IAAF Diamond league meeting in Doha with a European-leading 65.48m on 9 May.
Sandra Perkovic CRO (discus): the reigning World and Olympic champion continued her magnificent season with a national record and world-leading 70.52m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai on 18 May and then extended her winning streak in Eugene.
Sifan Hassan NED (5000m): became the first woman to run under 15 minutes this year with a world-leading time of 14:59.23 in California on 4 May and then produced a 1500m national record of 3:59.38 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 31 May.
Tiffany Porter GBR (100m hurdles): the 2013 IAAF World Championships bronze medallist ran a European-leading time of 12.65 in the British city of Manchester on 17 May and also had a good win over a world-class field in Kingston, Jamaica, earlier in the month.
Yekaterina Poistogova RUS (800m): the London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist ran a European-leading time of 1:58.55 when winning at the Russian Team Championships in Adler on 30 May, the second fastest time in the world this year.